My Father Was Secretly A Killer Monkey-Man From Outer Space
by EarthScorpion
Summary: Many people have called Gendo Ikari a bad parent throughout the years. However, that's just the product of cultural chauvinism. If you judge him by saiyan standards, his behaviour becomes much more reasonable. A tale of giant robots, punching, and heterodox standards of good parenting.
1. Act 1: Chapter 1

**ACT 1: SPACE BOY MEETS EARTH GIRL**

 **CHAPTER 1**

No one would have believed, in the latter years of the twentieth century, that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their affairs they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.

They were probably correct to not believe that.

However, the reasons they were correct to not believe this were not happy ones. Unfortunately, the intelligences out there were none too different to men's in magnitude and they didn't really care enough to scrutinise man's affairs closely. In all honestly the inhuman intellects had simply stumbled across Earth on a scouting mission and were just carrying out a quick appraisal to work out how much they could get for it when they turned it in to the employer run by a megalomaniacal Frost Demon boss with a Napoleon complex.

A white egg-shaped vessel drifted through the velvet void, engines glowing faintly.

"Recon-officer Gerabanzo's report, day…" the speaker sighed, "nine hundred and ninety eight. I am following the radio signals captured in passing System 93292-b, investigating a previously unknown alien species. Interceptions of their communications show them to be both stupid and weak. And I am very, very bored."

He scratched his chin with his tail. Join the Recon Corps, they'd said. Be the first one to discover new worlds. Earn your fortune from finder's fees. Live out on the frontier. Get your own pod.

No wonder other people had laughed at him when he signed up. What an idiot he'd been. Nearly a thousand days since he'd seen another saiyan. Most of the time he'd been stuck inside this little pod. It'd been so long since he'd had a _proper_ meal, rather than just protein weave from the dispenser. He'd only occasionally got to land on alien worlds and vent by killing things.

And here he was in the back-end of nowhere. Knowing his luck, he wouldn't even get a reward for this.

He wasn't sure how this day could get much worse.

"Beginning final approach," he continued. "I am beginning surveillance of their feeble dwellings. Sensor readings indicate that the population of the local dominant species is… around six billion." Steepling his fingers, Gerabanzo looked at the screen in mild consternation. That was somewhat higher than he could face on his own. And what if they were a powerful warrior race who… oh, wait.

"Sensor readings also indicate that most specimens of this pathetic race have a power level of one. I repeat, one. Not one hundred. Not one thousand. One. Maybe they're not the dominant species. I mean, what kind of species has a power level of one? Maybe they were bred for calibration of scouters! What a pathetic little orb."

Adjusting his scouter, he scrutinised the world below. "So little power. I could kill hundreds without breaking a sweat." Adjusting his instrumentation, he zoomed in on one of the population centres he had detected. "Pah! They look like saiyans, but they're so weak! It's an insult!"

He was so _lonely_. The only conversation with another saiyan came when someone replied to his reports, and that was rare. He doubted anyone even cared about his endless 'nothing of value found' reports. He rarely even got responses. Here he was, monologuing about the inferiority of this very inferior race doing their inferior things on their inferior world, and he didn't even have anyone else gloating about their inferiority with him.

In theory, he should perform an investigation here, and then report his discovery in full. Once that was done, he should move swiftly onto his next prospective site.

Well, there was no chance of him doing it. Nearly a thousand days of lonely travel had given him a very good idea of how much a low class warrior like him was worth to those damn high class snobs. Oh, look at them with their power levels of ten thousand or more. Thankless work like this had a certain way of breeding resentment.

Gerabanzo cracked his knuckles, and leaned back in his seat. Well, time to investigate this primitive foolish world. This investigation would probably involve eating a lot of their food. And killing and eating wildlife. His stomach grumbled. That sounded like a good idea. At the very least he should be able to get some g… some tolera… some meals that weren't just junk from his pod's dispenser.

He glanced at a map of the globe below him, closed his eyes and jabbed his finger at it. He opened his eyes. The middle of the ocean. He tried again. A collection of islands next to the biggest continent on the planet.

Good enough.

Gerabanzo began his descent. The very fate of the world would depend on whether he could get a good meal. If he couldn't, he'd probably blow up the city.

* * *

The traditional form of an alien invasion involves giant floating spaceships appearing over the capital cities of major world cities and destroying famous landmarks. Gerabanzo's invasion - by sheer chance - did in fact manage to begin in Tokyo. However he entirely missed the Tokyo Tower and instead smashed into a car park, leaving a sizable crater.

With a hiss, the pod doors unsealed, and he emerged from the clouds of coolant into the brand new world. His sniffed the air. He could smell burning tar, rubber and oil. That had probably come from the products of the primitive society he had crushed on impact.

Behind him, a car caught fire.

But no matter! With a short hop he leapt out of the crater, pushing his way past the gathering crowd of stunned onlookers. Of course it was natural for such primitive beings to be stunned! He cut an imposing figure as a saiyan warrior! Certainly, he might not have been quite as muscular as the ladies liked and his dark brown hair was shorter and less spiky than was fashionable, but at least he avoided the premature balding that happened to afflict many high-class warriors! It was natural for them to be awed to silence at the very sight of him.

A salaryman in a dark blue suit carrying a briefcase hesitantly stepped up to him. He nervously cleared his throat. "Um…" he said, peering down into the smoke-filled crater. "Are… um. Are you an alien?"

Gerabanzo gave him a pitying look of contempt. "No," he said. "You're the alien."

"Um. Did you crash here?" the man tried again. "If so, I'm… I'm sure that the government would be willing to help you repair your ship. Perhaps now it is time for humanity to take its place on the galactic stage. Indeed, yes," he continued warming to the topic, "perhaps your arrival is a sign of the growing maturity of mankind as a species, what with our development of advanced technology such as atomic weaponry, the internal combustion engine, and the end of the Cold War. If so, I hope that the guidance of such enlightened beings such as yourself from beyond the stars can lead us away from conflict and towards a brighter tomorrow where we can-"

Yack yack yack. These 'humans' were boring him. And away from the crash sight, Gerabanzo felt that he could perhaps smell some kind of fried animal in the air. That sounded very edible and he was hungry.

Ignoring the attempt at first contact, he kicked off from the ground and launched himself into flight, searching for something to eat. Below him, the city stretched out, the streets packed with cars. Brightly lit advertising signs plastered the skyscrapers.

He found what he was looking for some distance away in a cloud of steam rising from what he assumed to be an eatery of some kind. As he flew through the steam, he could smell multiple kinds of animal, cooked in sauces containing many different unnatural additives and a great deal of salt.

A single tear welled up in the corner of his eye. How incredible! This far from home, he had found an alien race who had mastered a basic element of saiyan cooking. Landing in front of the shop, he glanced at the sign, and let his scouter translate their strange alien script for him.

"If You Can Finish Our Super-Sized Ramen Bowl In Just Fifteen Minutes, Your Meal Is Free," he read out loud, complete with capitalisation. "Ah ha! Fools! You dare challenge a saiyan warrior? I will destroy you all! And your ramen too!"

He wasn't sure what ramen was, but it sounded like it was probably related to saibamen. It might be a challenge, but he should be able to crush such beings if it was a one-on-one fight.

The door of the ramen shop burst open at the hinges, bouncing off the wall. Gerabanzo stomped in, twisting slightly to get his shoulder pads through the narrow entrance.

"Bring me one of your Super-Sized Ramen Bowls!" he bellowed. "The fate of your whole city depends on it!"

* * *

Nine and a half minutes had passed.

This city would live for now, Gerabanzo decided, sucking on his teeth. They had earned that much. The salty brown liquid provided in a glass bottle had helped the large tub of 'ramen' down, at least once he'd taken off the lid so he could drink it properly.

He slammed his fist down on the table, cracking its surface and sending a spoon flying.

"Tolerable food, primitive!" Gerabanzo barked at the serving girl. "You may possibly live when the saiyans conquer you! Now, another! And quickly!"

"You, uh, want another Super-Sized Ramen Bowl?" the girl asked faintly. She was the owner's daughter and was just helping out. All things considered, she really didn't deserve what was happening to her.

"Of course! Did you not hear what I said, woman?"

She glanced at his feet, which he'd put on the table. Wisely, she decided not to say anything about it. "Another bowl," she said. "I'll bring it over."

"And be fast about it!"

She ducked into the kitchens, and sighed loudly away from the strange customer. "I think he's an American tourist," she muttered to her father. "He's being very rude. And he's wearing what I think is sports gear. And he's got something attached to the back that looks sort of like a tail."

"Ah," her father said, eyes narrow.

"Also, uh, he just drank an entire bottle of soy sauce."

The old man blinked. "Drank… a bottle of soy sauce?" he said, not quite sure of what he was hearing.

"He took the lid off and downed it."

Her father cracked his knuckles. "He did, did he? Well, this is the house's own recipe." He grabbed a container of salt, and a bottle of chilli oil. "We'll see how he likes _this_..."

After making his own additions, he let his daughter deliver the bowl. Time to see whether this man really wanted to wolf down this food in just fifteen minutes - after already having one bowl!

And then he heard the bellow. "I love it!" roared Gerabanzo. "Much better! The first was bland and boring!" There was a noise which sounded remarkably like a food blender made out of meat. "Bring me another, woman!"

Slowly, the old man sank down. Truly he knew defeat.

* * *

Four empty bowls sat in front of the strange man.

"Good food, and free," Gerabanzo said seriously. "You may live. I will be back." Squeezing his shoulder pads out through the narrow door, the saiyan warrior stretched. He should probably check if there were any messages left for him in his pod that he might have missed while he was eating.

The police had surrounded where he landed, but he barely noticed them. One tried to stop him, but the saiyan was in a good, well-fed mood and merely sent him flying with a casual tap. Taking off, he sat back and checked for any received transmissions. There was something.

"Ah, yes, this is Parasnippo," a bored-sounding man began. "Right, so… yes. You say you found life on System 93292-b? Do you have a full report of how useful they'll be for the Galactic Frieza Army? No, of course you don't. Because if you did, you've have sent it to me. I certainly won't file your logs until you send me all the required records!"

Gerabanzo balled his hands into fists. He had no great fondness for Parasnippo - and no small fondness, either. In fact, it would be very accurate to say that he had no fondness at all for that damn snooty functionary who looked down on him all the time and got on his back about his logs.

"In fact, it's just as well for you that I haven't filed them, because Frieza himself has shown up for an inspection. No doubt he's sick of the laxness! That, or he was personally offended by that idiot low-class warrior who ran in and started shouting about how Frieza wanted to destroy us! Ha! What foolishness!"

Shifting in his pod seat, Gerabanzo rummaged around looking for a toothpick. He had something in his teeth. Despite that, that ramen was much more useful than saibamen. He could probably plunder the recipe. And then when he got bored of serving in the Recon Corps, he could settle down back home and set up a chain of eateries and become fabulously wealthy and…

"Anyway… wait, what's that light outside?" Parasnippo's voice receded slightly - presumably as he poked his head ouside. "That's not the sun!" he screamed. Gerabanzo nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden noise "That's not the sun at all! It's coming right for the planet and… such power! Only one person could do that! I… Gerabanzo! We've been betrayed! Don't come back! Try to find a way to-"

And then - nothing.

A howl of rage and misery echoed out over Tokyo.

* * *

Ten hours had passed. Most of these hours had been spent drinking. Gerabanzo was on his eighth bottle and third bar, after the first two had made the mistake of trying to cut him off.

"... and the mysterious arson of two Tokyo bars is currently under investigation, police say," the television in the corner blared out.

Gerabanzo stared at the glass in his hand and the clear spirits within. They burned when they went down, but that was good. It numbed his head. He threw his head back, and downed the glass, pouring out another one almost by instinct. The world itself was lurching and swaying slightly, but he didn't really care.

His homeworld was gone. He knew that for a fact. There'd be no use looking for it. He was a low class warrior, and only a moderately skilled one at that. Anyone who would take on the saiyan homeworld would be able to crush him with ease. And he was in the back-end of nowhere and only had a saiyan pod with him. He might be able to become a space pirate, but pickings would be thin out here.

Holding onto the bar, he glanced around the room. He was drunk enough that reading his scouter didn't come naturally, but after a few goes he verified there were no secret high-level warriors here. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe that'd do it. He'd go crush this world and rule over it as its tyrant. Turn into a giant ape and wreck whatever pitiful opposition could stand up to him. It wasn't like they had their own giant apes. They had a giant ape gap. And then when he was sitting on the golden throne of this world - if they didn't have one, he'd make them build him one - he'd… he'd show them all! Everyone who said he'd never amount to much! He'd show them that he could be a conquering warlord! And…

His drunken megalomaniacal fantasies were interrupted by the growing argument in the background between two humans. A male and a female were shouting at each other. Their voices grated at his ears. Eventually, he had had enough. Pulling himself to his feet, he weaved his way over to them, staggering slightly. The male was skinny, dark-haired and wore spectacles, while the female was shorter and had short brown hair.

"Either shut up, or leave," Gerabanzo said bluntly, gesturing with his glass. "Some of us are trying to drink in peace. I've had a very bad day. Don't make it worse."

The male turned to glare at him. "I'm sorry for being loud," he said, in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's just my girlfriend is being ill-tempered and…"

"Ill-tempered?!"

"Very ill-tempered," the man continued, ignoring her objection. "So if she'd just be quiet, I'm sure that she'd stop bothering you."

"Oh, that's it!" the woman snapped. She pushed her way out from where she'd been sitting. "You," she said to Gerabanzo. "I'm drinking with you now. My boyfriend has decided that he'd rather be a big baby rather than man up and not be a little passive-aggressive child."

"No you don't," the man said, rising to grab her. Unfortunately, he managed to knock Gerabanzo's wrist. The drink went over both him and the saiyan warrior.

And things just rather went downhill from thereon.

The woman stared out the broken window. "Wow," she said, very impressed. She leaned out. "And Masaaki? We're over! Don't ever speak to me again!"

He may have replied, but if so it was sort of lost in the groans.

"Well, how about I buy you a drink to make up for that?" she asked Gerabanzo.

That seemed entirely acceptable to the saiyan, and so he followed the woman back to the bar. The man behind the bar seemed about to say something to the strange man who'd just thrown someone out the window, but news had got around and there was something about Gerabanzo that seemed to suggest that it'd probably be bad for his health to object. And might result in him also going out the window.

"So where are you from?" she asked him. "I'm a student, studying for my bioengineering degree. I'm looking to get a doctorate after that."

"I'm not from around here," Gerabanzo said, feeling ill at ease. "And I work in the world trade business."

"World trade business? You're an office worker?"

"No, I work out in the field," Gerabanzo said honestly. "Finding new markets."

She was looking him up and down, and he suspected she wanted a fight. He made sure to check her power level, and reassured himself that she wasn't a meaningful threat. Unless she had some way of hiding her power levels. But she still looked as if she wanted something from him...

"Your Japanese is very good," she said breezily, and then laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Yui, by the way."

"My name is Ge-" Wait. He was going to have to hide. They might come looking for him. There was no point in making things easier for them. He'd need a false name. Something that no proud saiyan warrior would ever pick out for himself. "… Dough."

"Sorry, you're slurring. Gedough. Gendo?"

"... that one."

"Which one?"

"The second one."

She laughed. "I think you're drunk. I think I'm drunk. Well, nice to meet you, Gendo."

Mentally, he shrugged. "Yes. That is right. That is my name." Well, it'd do. At least while he waited for other saiyans to find him. He could put up with it for a few months. He could probably find something to amuse himself for long enough to-

"You're cute," the alien said, clinging onto his arm. She was massaging his biceps in a not-unpleasing way. "And you just threw my now-ex-boyfriend through a window. Mmm. I'm very interested in getting a closer look at those muscles. If you know what I mean."

Gerabanzo - newly christened as Gendo - worked his shoulders. Ah. At least the local aliens appreciated muscles. And they did look a lot like saiyans, albeit all soft and squishy and rounded. If he had to be stuck somewhere, at least he wasn't stuck in a place where the aliens were as ugly as a frost demon.

"You want a closer look?" he asked.

The alien looked at him through narrowed eyes. "How big is your bed?" she asked bluntly.

He thought of his saiyan pod. "Cramped," he said.

"Right. My place it is, then. My flatmate should be out. And I'm very interested to see what's under that outfit of yours."


	2. Act 1: Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

As Gerabanzo awoke next morning from uneasy dreams he found himself being scrutinised by a strange woman, as if he had transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.

Wait. This wasn't his bed. There was a lot more room in this bed than in his pod.

"Good. You're awake," said the alien woman from last night. She was sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed, wearing only a baggy t-shirt. Elbows resting on her knees, she stared down at him over the top of her steepled fingers.

"Mmmpgh," managed Gerabanzo, trying to sit up and failing. How much had he had to drink? And then the crashing melancholia and the knowledge that his homeworld had been destroyed sunk in, and he slumped back down again.

"You know, last night I noticed a few things," she said. He wracked his hungover brain trying to remember her name.

"Mmmmg," he grunted.

"Well, firstly and most importantly, you have a tail. I did consider asking you why exactly you had a tail, but I was having too much fun to stop. So I decided to put off the questions until this morning."

"Ggh."

"Why, precisely, do you have a tail?"

Ah. That, he had an answer for. "I am a saiyan, not a miserable human!" he groaned "On my home planet, everyone has them!"

"I suspected you were an ang… alien - or at least a divergent manifestation of the Li… well, never mind that. Interesting, interesting. You confirm you're not from this world?"

"Of course not!"

"Yet anatomically you're nearly identical to a human, at least externally." She gave a smug little smile. "I made sure to check that. Oh, to think of the convergent evolutionary pressures that would produce someone who seems nearly identical to a human! I wonder what your Blood Type would read as..."

Gerabanzo just stared at her blankly. He was too hungover for this. She was loud and perky and bouncy and… Yui, that was her name! Now he remembered! "What happened last night?" he asked blearily. He vaguely remembered walking back with the woman, but while the memories he had indicated it had been quite enjoyable, they didn't exactly line up in any coherent order.

"Well," Yui said, swinging her legs off the bed and stretching. "After you threw my ex out the window, we hooked up."

"I remember that bit," he said. He pinched his brow and managed on his second try to sit up. "Does your species have any silly rules that means I'm expected to do anything just because of this? Am I supposed to be your slave or something? Because I will destroy you if that's the case."

Yui smiled, perhaps thinking it was a joke. "Well, I'd like to do this again some time," she said. "I had fun, and I just found a real life alien. A handsome one too, without any purely hypothetical bird-like masks or similar. With a handsomely furry tail!"

Temporarily-Gendo blinked. He was hungover and hungry, but her logic didn't seem to be… well, logical. "Huh?" he managed.

Hands on her hips, Yui leaned down at him, glaring. "Ever since I was a little girl, I was sure there were aliens out there!" she informed him. "And I just found my very first alien! And made first contact with him!"

"Is that what you call it?"

"Yes!" She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Now, I'm going to make you breakfast and then you're going to tell me everything you can about your history, biology and technology!"

Holding his head in his hands, he groaned. "How are you so loud and perky, woman?" he moaned. "You were drinking too!"

Yui gave him an arch smile. "If you can't handle your alcohol, that's hardly my fault," she told him archly.

* * *

A little past lunchtime, Yui Ikari stepped smartly out of her apartment and headed down to the university. She rode a train into the centre of Tokyo, picking up a local paper along the way. Eyes wide, she noted the third page story about a mysterious explosion which had wiped out a car park in the city - and how police were looking for an American football player.

She was going to have to get more food. Gendo had cleared out her fridge with breakfast. But ah, the data! The notebook she'd filled with information on an alien race! The fact that his 'scouter' was a sophisticated system capable of detection of anomalous energy fields and could apparently communicate with mobile phones so she now could send messages to him!

Yui checked her phone. Apart from a text from Masaaki Takashio, who was in hospital and feeling sorry for himself and apparently wanted her to feel sorry for him, there was nothing. Masaaki wasn't getting any pity from her. She had been wanting to break up with him for a while, and now? Now she had her very own _alien_.

She laughed to herself. Just a little bit.

Swiping in at the university entrance, she let herself into the biology department. It was the weekend, so it was quiet. She headed up to the third floor. Yui paused, and tugged her neckline down a little, pinching her cheeks to redden them slightly. She then knocked on her tutor's door, and and poked her head in. "Professor Fuyutsuki?"

"Ah, I didn't expect to see you in on a Saturday, Miss Ikari," the older man said. Kozo Fuyutsuki was in his late middle years, with greying hair and a tired expression on his face. "Is something the matter?"

"I was just wondering if anyone had the BT analysis equipment in 32D booked out for this weekend?" Yui asked, stepping in and closing the door behind her. She leant forwards slightly. "I know you're meant to book them a week in advance, but I thought of something last night and realised that I could get ahead of my schedule for my project and so…"

Professor Fuyutsuki frowned, lost in thought. "Hmm. I don't believe it's booked, no," he said, checking a print-out hanging from his wall. He grinned conspiratorially at her. "Tell you what, I'll pencil you in and say you booked ahead of time."

Yui bowed. "Thank you so much! It's just going to be some quick processing of cell samples!"

"Nothing at all for my favourite top student," the older man said.

"Thank you very much." She bowed again. "I promise I'll make sure everything is cleaned up around it while I wait for the processing to finish, okay?"

He nodded. "That'd be good, yes."

After changing into her lab coat and making sure her hair was in a hairnet, Yui entered the lab and locked the door behind her. From an interior pocket, she removed the bag holding the hair and skin samples she'd taken from the sleeping man. Or alien so possibly human concepts of gender and sexuality didn't apply to him. Yui didn't think so, though. She was fairly sure he was a man. She had enjoyed the experience. It was nice to be able to pick her own boyfriends, rather than having them be another selected candidate from Daddy. She'd have to see if she wanted to keep him.

She set up the equipment for the analysis, and while it warmed up she prepared the specimens for processing and recorded the settings she was planning to use in her log book.

"Unknown sample, possible contaminants," she wrote in a clear, flowing hand. "Test processing run #1 - mouth swab."

And then she loaded the sample into the machinery, and set it to running.

Quarter of an hour later, she was pouring over her results, her eyes wide. "Huh," Yui said. And because she was a good scientist, she went and repeated her tests on the hair sample, the skin scraping and the sample which… well, obtaining it had left a rather bad taste in her mouth.

"Huh," she said again, as she compared the synthesised waveform to recorded Blood Types. One of them was contaminated with a human pattern - probably hers - but the others? Well, they certainly weren't _H. sapiens_.

She tapped her fingers together. It looked like "Gendo" was telling the truth. He was something unique - something that she doubted anyone on Earth had ever seen before. Methodically, Yui replaced her saved files with ones she'd processed earlier, changing the dates, and saved the ones she'd found here to a disc. She didn't want anyone else following her tracks.

"Contamination in the cell samples, sensei, I'm afraid," she told her professor. "It's a shame. I'll have to try again next week, and try to get better purity samples."

He sighed and rolled his eyes. Both of them were entirely too used to how often samples were contaminated or otherwise poorly set up. "Oh well. It's your weekend you wasted."

"I know," she said sadly. "See you on Monday, then."

On the way back, she called up Gendo.

"What is it?" He sounded sullen.

"I was just wondering if you were doing anything this evening," Yui said, her voice innocent. "Did you want to have dinner with me?"

There was a pause. "Yes," Gendo said.

"Meet me outside my place," she told him. "I know a place that does good food."

* * *

"The JSDF has released a statement on the explosion, blaming an accident with munitions that were being transported on a train. The disruptions to the rail network are extensive, and it is believed that they will continue through Sunday…" the television blared in the background.

It was just as well that her allowance from Daddy was so generous, Yui thought to herself. Watching Gendo eat was… well, it was a learning experience. It wasn't so much that he ate quickly, though he did - very much so. He ate like a man running a marathon, methodically processing and chowing down with every indication that he was in it for the long run.

For his part, Gerabanzo was taking the chance to eat all he could. Today had not been a good day. A group of soldiers had stolen his pod overnight, and he'd had to spend most of the day tracking it down again. And then they'd started shooting at him and he'd had to blow them all up. And then it'd turned out they weren't even the ones who had his damn ship! No, they'd loaded it up for transport and secured it so well that it couldn't get back to him even when he'd recalled it! So then he'd had to go track _that_ down.

By the time he'd found the train they were moving it on, he had been rather short tempered. Especially since they'd been shooting at him again.

But that was all done now, and he'd hidden his pod in the ocean. If they managed to find it again and steal it, he'd be decidedly irate. He'd probably go find the king of this country, whoever or whatever he was, and punch him so hard his insides became outsides.

And after all that effort to get his damn pod back, the day hadn't improved once he'd got to scanning for signals. Even this far out, he could still get news reports. They were saying that Planet Vegeta had been destroyed by a giant meteor that had come out of nowhere and blown up the entire world, with no survivors.

Was he truly the last saiyan? It was a dark and melancholy thought. He'd blown up worlds before. Well, not personally. It wasn't something he could do. But he'd found new worlds, handed them over to the Galactic Frieza Army, and then the world trade business had decided that they weren't profitable and had demolished them for profit. Or, in one case, to build a new mega space casino from the rubble. But that had been different, for lots of reasons. Most of those reasons were they hadn't been his homeworld.

And Yui just wouldn't stop talking at him. She was going on and on and on about… something or other. She'd hardly eaten anything at all. Only one small plate, and most of that had been vegetables.

"And I'm actually only twenty. Yes, I know I'm in the final year of my degree, but I was born in 1977, if you can believe it. I'm going to going onto my PhD soon - I'm looking at projects right now, but it's almost certainly going to be related to cybernetics, cloning or synthetic cellular lifeforms. I've always been interested in the concept of iterative biological improvement and-"

He blinked.

"Wait," Gerabanzo said eyes narrowing. "Did you say cloning?"

"Yes," Yui said, running a finger down the side of her glass. She seemed somewhat surprised he'd stopped eating.

"You have cloning here?"

"... yes?"

"How good are you at it on this world?"

"It's… a developing field. We've successfully cloned animals, but we're not as far as human cloning - although I entirely expect to see it in my lifetime. Of course, I have some ideas about how to improve the process, but it's still just on paper at the moment. Why do you ask?"

Gerabanzo stared at her, trying to keep the growing, glowing hope within his chest under control. Cloning, he wanted to sing and dance. Cloning, they had cloning! And at a level which might be able to clone a human fairly soon, if she was right.

And if they could clone a human, they might be able to clone a saiyan.

His species didn't have to die! He didn't have to be alone! There could be more saiyans. And there had be be survivors elsewhere, so it wouldn't just be him. All he'd have to do is find a single female saiyan - somewhere, there had to be one, it couldn't just be any scattered men who'd survived! - and then they'd have their future back!

… and then he could build up a giant army of clones and go and wipe out Frieza as revenge, he mentally added. Then would come 'ruling over the universe as its unquestioned emperor'. He liked the sound of that.

"Could you clone me?" he asked.

"What kind of a question is that?" Yui asked. Despite her answer, she leaned forwards, a gleam of interest in her eyes.

He needed her on side. He needed this alien woman to find a way of cloning the saiyan race. And he had to admit, despite the fact that she was all weak and pathetic, she wasn't unattractive. All he'd need to do would be to persuade her to wear a tail…

"After this meal," he said, "I want to show you something."

"Oh _my_ ," Yui said, fluttering her lashes. He wasn't sure what that meant. Maybe it was a cultural thing.

"I will have to fly you there."

"You can fly?"

"Yes."

"... that's _even better_."

* * *

The white egg-shaped pod breached the surface of the ocean, shedding water from its flanks. It was late at night, and the moon was a tiny sliver overhead, often obscured by clouds. The orange lights from the streetlamps bled down onto the water in this secluded place just outside Tokyo.

Gerabanzo had flown here carrying her, which had delighted Yui. The spaceship had merely pressed her glee up an extra level.

"Is… is that your spaceship? That's your spaceship! That's a spaceship!" Yui kissed him on the cheek. "I've got to see a real spaceship!" She paused. "Can… can something that small really travel between worlds?"

"Yes," he said, nodding. He had a headache. He was absorbing moonlight, but something felt wrong about it - very wrong indeed. The light coming from overhead felt… dirty.

Of course, Yui noticed nothing about that. "Amazing! How does it go faster-than-light?"

Gerabanzo shrugged. "I don't know. I can keep it working in the field, but I'm not an engineer."

Yui pouted. "Curse it." She shook her head. "So you're saying that you've spent years in that thing, going from world to world?"

"Yes."

"Amazing. Truly, truly amazing. Yui paced up and down along the shore, trying to peer into that. "What advanced technology! It even hovers! Is it bigger on the inside too?"

Gerabanzo looked at her funny. "No, of course not. I wish it was. It's cramped. I think it's built to carry a single warrior in not much comfort to other planets."

"Ah ha." She looked at him, hands in her pockets. She was bouncing up and down on her toes. "And you said that wasn't all?"

He grinned, baring his teeth. "No. It's not." Raising his hand, he pointed his palm at the water. Taking a deep breath, he tried to put the headache he was getting from the moon out of mind, and focussed, gathering his ki. Light formed around his hand, building up into an orb in his hand.

"Heavy Hammer!" he barked.

And the ball rocketed forwards, detonating under the water. A pillar of steam and water erupted from the ocean, twenty metres tall or more, followed shortly after by a hot rain.

Hah, Gerabanzo thought to himself smugly. That'd show her his power. Now that she'd seen that, she'd be scared to betray him and-

"Do it again!" Yui, hair drenched and white top turning translucent from the water, had nonetheless produced a somewhat drier notepad and a pencil, and looked entirely willing to take notes. She stared at him with wide, hungry eyes. "How do you do that? Tell me everything!"

… well. "This is the power of the saiyan race, human," he told her. "The energy of life, ki… we are far more powerful than you!"

"I can see that! This energy… is it linked to the soul? Does it allow you to project energy barriers? Perhaps as a manifestation of your ego?" Her pencil hovered, ready to take more notes.

Gerabanzo considered the most powerful beings he knew of. He had to admit, it did seem that they were all very egotistical. That was the natural way of things. Why wouldn't you believe in yourself if you could singlehandedly blow up a planet?

"No more demands of me," he said, rather than admit that others were massively stronger than him. "Now, time for my demands. You will work for me. My species has been destroyed. I might be the last saiyan alive. I will not let us be destroyed! You will find a way to clone me."

Yui tilted her head. "Hmm. Ah ha, yes! And then comes galactic domination at the head of a legion of clones?"

"I don't have to tell you my plans," Gerabanzo said, sniffing.

"But ruling the galaxy is one of my life goals!" Yui wailed. "Why wouldn't you conquer the galaxy if you had lots of clones?"

He blinked. "... I thought you said your life's goal was meeting an alien."

"I have a lot of life goals. Meeting an alien, ruling the galaxy, immortality…" Yui ticked them off her fingers.

"What?"

"I like to think big. If you're planning to build a cloned army, then I'm on board! I want two things in return, though." She thought. "Wait, no, three."

Gerabanzo got the distinct feeling he had underestimated this alien woman. Were aliens meant to be so gleeful about the prospect of putting the galaxy under saiyan domination? "Go ahead."

"Firstly, will you go out with me? Be my boyfriend, Gendo!"

He considered her. She was an alien, but she was useful, interesting - and yes, looked very good in a soaking wet white t-shirt. "Why not?" he said.

"Excellent! Number two! Teach me everything you know! I want to be able to fire energy blasts from my hands! Or my eyes! And crush metal in my hands - yes, I've noticed you're massively stronger than a human. There's handprints in my bedroom from where you held onto something last night."

"I'll try," he said. "But you're weak and human, not a saiyan. You probably won't be able to even manage what an infant can."

"I don't care! If there's even one percent of a chance, I'll do it!" She took a breath. "And one last thing. Can you show me the world?" Yui asked ingenuously. "Shimmering, shining, splendid?"

Gerabanzo stared at her. "What are you blathering on about?"

"I want to go in an alien spaceship! Let's go flying in it!"

"Then why didn't you ask?"

"I did!"

He considered pointing out that it wasn't very spacious and there wasn't room for two, but he was fairly sure that she'd just volunteer to sit on his lap.

And he was just fine with that. There were worse fates than acquiring a highly intelligent and moderately attractive alien as a girlfriend, especially one who considered galactic domination to be an acceptable life goal. And looked good in a wet white t-shirt.


	3. Act 1: Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Happy flatshares are all alike; every unhappy flatshare is unhappy in their own way.

And in the case of the one containing Yui Ikari, her flatmate was glaring at her over the top of her coffee and looked prepared to make use of her toast as improvised weapons.

"Yes?" she eventually said, rather snappishly. She was feeling a little sleep-deprived after last night. "What is it, Mari?"

"There was a _man_ in our bathroom this morning, wearing your dressing gown," Mari said, adjusting her glasses. Her long brown hair was crudely scooped back by a hairband and she was still wearing the faded t-shirt she slept in.

"So?"

"This is the first I've seen of him, despite how loud the two of you have been the past few nights. I thought it was just you and Masaaki, or I'd said something earlier," she said, peevishly. "What happened?"

Yui sniffed, pouring herself coffee. Mari didn't like any of her boyfriends at the best of times, and had barely tolerated Masaaki. "I dumped him and picked up Gendo," she said calmly.

"But isn't Masaaki in the hospital?"

"So? I dumped him before that happened, and I'd been looking for an excuse to leave him for a while."

Mari brooded, swirling her coffee. "So is Gendo his name?" she said, taking a bit out of her toast.

"Yes."

"... he's a bit old for you, isn't he? He has to be, what, thirty?" Mari said, lips thin.

Yui shrugged. "He's a very interesting man. Much more so than any of the college students I've dated before."

Mari looked appalled at that. "Senpai! You can't go… go letting an older man take advantage of you!"

Flicking her hair back, Yui gave the other woman - only a year younger than her, but much less mature - a knowing glance. "Oh trust me, he's not taking advantage of me. We have an arrangement."

"But-"

"It's my business who I date. But nothing."

"You're just brushing off… you're not listening to me!" Mari exploded, slamming her hands down on the table. "You can't go out with an older man! You can't!"

"I can and will. Why do you care?"

"Because I… I... you're being loud right next to my room!"

Ah. Sighing, Yui leaned forwards, wrapping her hands around Mari's. Mari looked down, blushing pinkly. "I am sorry about that," Yui said sincerely. "I'll be quieter. Or find somewhere else - and," she sighed, "well, my final project is coming up so that means I'm going to need more sleep. I'm tired and grouchy."

"I saw him," Mari mumbled. "He's all rough-looking and there were scars on his chest. He's some street thug, I just know it. He's not good enough for you."

"Oh, Mari," Yui laughed. "He's not a street thug. I'm touched, really, I am, but I'm a big girl. I can look after myself."

* * *

The sun was high in the sky, shining down on Yui's small car. She had driven out of Tokyo to meet up with her boyfriend in a field. The field was covered in impact craters and exploded trees, which indicated that she'd missed him practising. That was annoying, because she'd wanted to watch. Oh well, maybe later. Right now, she had to present him with a gift.

He wasn't taking it well.

"What kind of clothes are these?" Gerabanzo's eyes simmered. "What are you trying to make me wear?"

Yui folded her arms, tapping her foot. "Clothes that will help you blend in," she said meaningfully. "You're drawing attention, and you can't keep wearing that… that thing with the silly shoulders all the time. It's not hygienic."

"This is armour! It protects me!" he retorted.

"It's drawing too much attention," Yui explained patiently. "You do want to hide, don't you?"

Damn. She had him there. With bad grace, he snatched the bag she proffered. His nose wrinkled as he pulled out a white shirt.

"If you're going to have to hide from the people who blew up your home planet, you're going to need a false identity," Yui said, moving onto phase two. "You can't just live in my flat all the time. People will start asking questions. My flatmate is getting on my back about us being 'too loud' for her. And things would probably get messy if you were arrested."

"I don't see why," Gendo said. "I'd just kill them all."

"Exactly. Messy. There'd be blood all over the place." Yui smiled. "Don't worry. I've put some thought into it. Daddy has lots of power and influence and I've picked up lots of things that he doesn't know that I know. Sometimes people need false papers and a new background."

"Your father can get these papers for me?"

"Oh, no, I'm not going anywhere near Daddy," Yui said firmly. "He doesn't approve of me dating people he hasn't vetted. He'd probably try to get you deported if he thought you weren't in the country legally." She smiled wickedly, trailing her finger down Gendo's chest. "He hasn't realised that I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm going to enjoy having a boyfriend that he won't be able to scare off."

Gendo smiled, until what she was saying sunk in. "If your father won't get the papers, then what will we do?" he asked.

Yui shrugged. "We'll find a rural family with no son and bribe them to adopt you," she said casually.

"No violence?" Gendo said, disappointment clear in his voice.

"Well, obviously we'll have to break into some places to add you to files," Yui said. "And burn down a few offices so lots of records are lost. That'll explain why yours are missing. Don't worry. Mama taught me how to fake records and bribe government officials. I'm rather good at it."

A certain question was nagging at the back of Gendo's head. "What do your parents do?" he asked.

Yui smiled, and leaned in to kiss him. "Daddy is a politician and Mama is a housewife," she said, resting her head against his chest.

Hmm. The politics of these people was a lot like saiyan politics, clearly. No wonder he liked Yui so much.

"So, first thing we'll need is money for the bribes," she said into his chest. "Don't worry. I brought a second set of clothes with me for you to wear for this. Well, I say 'clothes', but..."

* * *

"Tensions continue to grow on the border between North and South Korea, as the North publicly blamed Seoul and the United States for an unprovoked incursion with what they alleged was 'an advanced war machine with unparalleled power'. However, North Korea's evidence has been soundly rubbished as a crude fake by the international community, with analysts agreeing that the alleged 'war machine' in the photographs is in fact a man painted silver and wearing a costume made of what appear to be cardboard boxes. Presid-"

Yui turned off the radio. "See," she said smugly, patting a small pile of stolen bullion. "I told you it would work, Gendo."

"That's easy for you to say," Gerabanzo grumbled, scrubbing at himself in the bath. "You're not the one who got covered in this paint. It tasted horrible!"

"I told you not to spray it in your mouth," she said unsympathetically.

"I thought it was a food cylinder!" He ran his hands through his hair. "The things I do for you."

"For yourself," Yui corrected him. "Are you done yet? When you get out of the bath, I want to see you in the new clothes I got you. Because now we need to go find you some parents."

"This doesn't feel right" he tried. "I am the son of Mustar and Samfira, both proud saiyan warriors. Not some humans."

"Yes, but you still need fake parents to hide in Earth society," Yui said wearily. "I need them to exist so I can fake your birth records and the like."

"Can't you just pretend they're dead?"

"No, that would raise Daddy's suspicions." Yui folded her arms. "Now, I'm going to help you put that shirt on, and… well, I'm sure we can figure out how ties work."

* * *

Gerabanzo tugged at his collar surreptitiously. Here he was, out in this planet's countryside. The settlement had a few hundred people in it at most. He adjusted his scouter, scanning the area. No, there was nothing of interest around here.

"Gendo," hissed Yui. She was wearing a neat blue jacket and dark skirt. "Take that thing off!"

Grumbling, he removed the scanner from his left eye and put it in his pocket. He was wearing what Yui called a 'suit', which was so much less comfortable and functional than his armour. Both the 'shirt' and the 'jacket' covered up his arms and constrained his movement. The trousers were even worse. They'd probably tear if he tried to kick anyone. His tail was wrapped around his waist and the trouser material was chafing it. And the less said about the tie, the better. It was like a noose.

"I don't feel comfortable without my scouter," he grumbled.

"It stands out and you're trying to look normal," she said firmly.

"But I've seen other people wearing two of them on their eyes. So I should be allowed to wear just one."

"Two of them… do you mean glasses?"

"I suppose so."

Yui pinched her brow. "I'll get you a pair of sunglasses if you need the feeling of something covering your eyes. Come on. We just need to get through today."

He swallowed. "Fine."

Standing on tiptoes, Yui kissed him on the lips, and then smoothed down his shoulders, flicking away an imaginary bit of lint. "You look very handsome," she said fondly. "Just pretend to be human, don't punch anyone, and if you're not sure what to say, just let me do the talking. And don't forget the bag."

He smiled back, hefting the case. "You like talking a lot more than me," he said. "But I'm better at punching."

"Exactly! I couldn't break into the palace of the president of North Korea, and you'd struggle to persuade an old man to adopt you. But together… the world will be ours!"

"And after the world, the galaxy!"

"Well, we'll start with the solar system," Yui said, stepping up to the door. "Just remember, Mr Rokubungi is a shop-keeper. His wife died five years ago, and his son was a salaryman. Don't say anything to offend him, and things should go well." She gestured at him. "Go on. Knock. But not too hard."

"I know how to knock on doors, woman," he said, and did so, not even knocking down the door when he did so.

"Sorry," Yui apologised while at the door. "I get a little patronising when I'm tense."

Yuichiro Rokubungi was an elderly man in his sixties with an over-large pair of glasses and wispy white hair. He ran the little shop in this village. His wife had died a few years back, and his only child, a son, had been a salaryman who had thrown himself in front of a train after being fired. The old man was all alone in the world. As a result, he had been one of the most promising candidates Yui had found for the adoption process.

"So, uh," the old man said. "Miss Ikari, wasn't it? And…" he looked at Gerabanzo, "Gendo. The man who would be my son."

"Yes," said Gerabanzo.

"It is very good to meet you - and you are most kind to agree to meet us on such short notice," Yui said formally. "I saw your advert and how you were looking to adopt a son who might continue your proud family traditions."

"Yes, yes." Hands wrapped around his cane, the old man leaned forwards. "There has been a Rokubungi running a shop here for over three hundred years. My father ran this place before me, and his father before him…"

Gerabanzo tuned out, but paid attention again to hear "... and his father before him, who was granted the land for valiantly and bravely serving his lord."

"How fascinating," Yui said, eyes wide. "Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes," said Gerabanzo, on the grounds that it seemed like a safe thing to say.

"Moral probity, that's our watchword," old Mr Rokubungi said. "Moral probity and honesty and hard work. A good deed is its own reward, you know, and I could only adopt a son who would keep this shop running and maintain the virtues that has made it what it is today." He tapped his stick on the ground. "Now, if I was to adopt you, I would insist that you demonstrate your character to me - and begin with working with me in the shop. Only then could I know that you are worthy of inheriting such a mighty burden. You will look after me and sustain me in my old age, and then carry forth my legacy."

"Hmm," said Yui Ikari, who had once heard of the phrase 'moral probity', but thought it meant surgically-aided psychoanalysis. She tapped her fingers together. "I can't guarantee that Gendo will continue your business after you're gone," she said. "But I can guarantee you comfort and safety in your old age." She nodded to Gendo.

The saiyan rose, hefting the case in his hand - a bag a human would have found very heavy to lift. Unlocking it, he opened it to reveal North Korean gold bullion generously padded with fake dollar bills.

The old man swallowed. "How much is that worth?"

"Around $10 million, US, at current market values," Yui said calmly.

"Are… are you linked to the yakuza?" the old man asked. He was swaying in his seat slightly.

"No," Gerabanzo answered entirely truthfully and accurately.

"Do… do I want to know who you're linked to?"

"I'm just a man without a family who needs a respectable one," Gerabanzo said. He sighed. "My parents are dead," he added.

"Ah," said the old man, looking between the two of them. "I see how it is."

"So what do you say?"

The elderly Mr Rokubungi stroked his wispy white beard. "Screw the business," he said, eventually. "I've been running this shop for forty years and I'm sick of it! I never wanted to run a shop anyway, but my father forced it on me! Ah ha! I'm going to go buy myself an island in the pacific and retire there! Build myself a house on it, get myself a bevvy of young ladies who might want to keep me comfortable, and live it up! Maybe learn how to surf, hehe! I've been sober and industrious for my whole life, and I'm sick of it!"

Gerabanzo nodded. For all that he was only using this man, this was an attitude he could appreciate. Obviously as a superior saiyan he'd want to retire to a planet rather than an island, but it wasn't a surprise to see a human thinking on a smaller scale.

He glanced sideways at Yui. Apart from her. She didn't really think on the small scale. He was starting to think that perhaps she had been born in the wrong species.

"So there will just be a few conditions," Yui said, taking over and raising one finger. "You'll need to support any legal documents we may ask you to, including functioning as a reference, and-"

"Honey, for ten million dollars I'll do whatever you want," Mr Rokubungi said, wagging his finger at her. "Run around naked screaming about invisible goblins? I'm your man!"

Yui looked tempted, but shook her head. "Some legal testimonies will be quite sufficient, as well as attending various graduations and/or weddings as needed."

"Whatever!" The old man jabbed his finger at Gendo. "Don't expect to inherit anything, son of mine! I intend to spend it all! I'm not leaving you a penny!"

Gerabanzo - now newly Gendo Rokubungi - was grinning as he left the place. "That old man has his priorities right," he said approvingly. "Now, what remains on the checklist?"

Yui scanned down it. "Let's see. We've found you a father. Now we need to file the adoption documentation… that's easy enough." She tapped the paper. "There's a few places we're going to need to break into. Fortunately, that North Korean fake money spends well, so I got Mama to lend me her address book and most of it is taken care of. There are a few government offices you'll need to burn down, though, so the real records are destroyed and they have to reproduce them from the fakes."

Gerabanzo exhaled, tearing off his tie. "Are you going to make me wear cardboard boxes again?" he asked.

"Tempting, but no. No, you'll just be dressed up like a dangerous anarchist." She paused. "Ah! I nearly forgot! But before we get into that, you're going out with me and my flatmate, so you can be introduced to her as a perfectly normal human being. You need to be introduced to my friends!"

Gerabanzo grunted. "Fine," he said sullenly.

"Oh, and Gendo?"

"Yes?"

"If you kill her, I will be _extremely_ angry with you. I don't need the hassle of finding a new flatmate midway through term on top of everything else. She's not a bad girl. She's just…"

The man paused mid-way through pulling off his shirt. "You just trailed away," he said.

"She's… you'll see."

* * *

Dinner was a tense experience.

Mari stared at Gendo over the top of the soup. She was holding her spoon as one might hold a dagger, and her gaze indicated that she rather wanted to use it to scoop out his eyeballs.

Gendo stared at Mari. He had refused to relinquish the item of cutlery he had selected for the meal, despite his girlfriend's implications that knives were not used for eating soup.

"This is Mari," Yui said sunnily, trying to ignore the atmosphere. "She's in the year below me, and she's studying biomaterial science. Tell him about your project on the ethics of cybernetics and human enhancement, Mari!"

The other woman adjusted her glasses with her free hand. "It's about cybernetics and human enhancement," she said brusquely. "And whether it's ethical."

"... I was hoping you'd go into a little more detail than that," Yui said. "It's really very interesting."

Gendo grunted.

"No, really, it is! Why don't you explain a bit more about it, Mari? Please?"

Mari laid down her spoon, and cracked her knuckles. "How much do you know about the field of cybernetics research?" she asked in a nasty tone.

"A bit," Gendo said.

"Have you read A Cyborg Manifesto? I read it in the native English, but _you'd_ probably need to find a translation."

"She's part British," Yui said, a little desperately. She was beginning to feel that this might have been a - well, not a mistake, because she didn't make mistakes and she was unquestionably perfect - but a _miscalculation_. A small one.

"No. I haven't read it," Gendo said.

"Well, then I don't think you could understand the field," Mari said, her tone superior.

Gendo shrugged. "Do you have working field-capable cybernetic arms with full tactile functionality and nerve-interface interlock, made from immuno-neutral materials and biocybernetic materials which ensure a smooth integration with the central nervous system?" he asked, pulling out half-remembered briefings on an alien race they'd encountered once.

"... uh, no."

"Then I don't think you understand the field," he said. He glanced at Yui, his bowl empty. "When is the main course coming?"

"In a little wh-" Yui began.

"Wait just a moment," Mari interrupted. "You're just stringing together buzzwords there! I bet you just read popular science magazines!"

"I don't."

"Ha! That means you can't even read! And you think you can get away with saying that I don't understand the field! What are your qualifications?"

"I am a s-" began Gendo, until a vicious rib elbow from Yui brought him to his senses. Despite the force that her pathetic human body had managed to apply, she was still smiling placidly, albeit somewhat rigidly. "-tudent. I am a student," he concluded. He finally put the knife down, although that was mostly because he had been gripping it so tight it had come apart in his hands.

"Despite how old you are! Ha! Yui, he's an idiot! He's bad for you!"

Yui sipped her drink. "Mari, you're embarrassing yourself," she said calmly. "I had hoped that the two of you were going to be grown-ups around each other." She fluttered her eyelashes at the two of them. "Can you please at least _try_?"

"... fine," Mari conceded.

Yui shifted to glare at Gendo. He grunted.

"And I think the food is coming," Yui added meaningfully, which managed to shift his glower somewhat.

Mari's expression over the course of the main course turned from annoyance, into disgust, into twisted fascination, and back into disgust as she watched the man sitting opposite to her masticate his way through enough food to feed four people before she was even half done.

In the end, she left quietly with a faintly nauseous expression.

"That could have gone better," Yui said, after she paid the bill. The two of them were walking home together, through the shaded streets of a residential area.

"I know," Gendo said. "But you didn't let me kill her."

"... then again, that could also have gone worse," she added. She sighed. "I'm sorry about that. I promise, most of my friends won't be anywhere near as bad as she is," Yui said quietly.

Gerabanzo shrugged. "If they are, I might kill them."

"Stop that. Please don't kill my friends. Mama will start asking questions if I have to ask her for the telephone number of a specialist in disposing of bodies."

"Well, I think-" began Gerabanzo, before he stopped dead in the street. The clouds had parted, and above him a nearly full moon was shining down.

And it hurt. It hurt so much. The moon wasn't even at its maximum strength yet, but the rays emanating down from it felt wrong. They felt unclean, and not like any other moon he had felt.

Something red-hot spiked behind his eyeballs, and he fell down. There were glowing halos forming around the heads of the few humans he could see, and he could feel his muscles shifting and swelling within him. But this wasn't the power of the Great Ape. This wasn't the pure wrath of the saiyan race made manifest. Black veins shifted under his pale skin, and his tendons complained.

"What's the matter?" Yui asked, concern in her voice.

"Moon. Moon… hurts," he let out, in a bestial snarl. His eyes were glowing a faint red. "G-Get away! Go!"

"I know what to do!" Yui shouted, pulling off her coat. "Hold still, Gendo!"

But the pain spiked again. And then the world went red. And then the world went black.


	4. Act 1: Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. However, somewhere in the aching skull of the saiyan warrior Gerabanzo - who also went by Gendo Rokubungi, for reasons that were his own - the nagging thought was that nothing like this had ever happened to him before. The past might have been a foreign country, but it was nowhere near as foreign as the present.

"Gwah?" he managed, cracking open an eye and regretting it. The light was far too bright, lancing into his brain and bringing only pain with it.

Yui put down the pen light. "Good morning, and congratulations," she said. "Your eyes aren't glowing anymore. That's a good sign."

"What. Happen'd?"

"Well, hmm. I can only diagnose things externally, but you stared up at the moon, your eyes started glowing, and I could see black veins under your skin. Is that a thing you do frequently?" He could vaguely make out the fact that she had her notepad out, pencil at the ready.

"Last thing I 'member, ev'rything went black," Gerabanzo mumbled.

"Well, yes. It's natural for everything to go black when I put my coat over your head," Yui said.

"Huh?"

"Well, it seemed obvious to me that the moon was the source of your distress. And clouds and buildings stopped it - because I hadn't observed it earlier - so blocking the moonlight would seem to work."

"... huh. There's some'ing ver' wrong with your moon," he rumbled. He felt sick, and could taste blood in his mouth.

"There is? That's something very, very interesting indeed." Yui paused. "Let's get you cleaned up, and then maybe we can talk more. I can probably find you some food, too - and fortunately Mari went out this morning."

Gerabanzo felt much better after emptying Yui's breadbin, and soon he was sitting on her bed, hair still damp.

"You didn't mention any strange reaction with moons before," Yui said, fingers steepled. "Was that not something normal?"

He scowled. "Under the light of the full moon, we can assume our mighty Great Ape forms," he said reluctantly.

"Gosh!" Yui said happily, perking up. "How big? Three metres tall? Four?"

"... more like forty."

"Incredible! And that's… a _thing_ everyone in your species can do?"

"Everyone with a tail, yes. Cutting off our tail stops us doing it, or forces us to turn back."

Yui's eyes narrowed. "A tail? But… that makes sense? Is that the location of your core? No, that doesn't make sense…"

It was her that didn't make sense, and he told her as much. "There's something very wrong with your moon," he added, glaring. "I've never had that happen on any world before. Normally I'd be filled with raw fury and lose control and go on a rampage. It wouldn't hurt me!"

"... you didn't think to mention it?"

Gerabanzo shrugged. "It wasn't the night of the full moon yet. It didn't matter." He held his head in his hands. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Yui rose from the bed, and perched herself on her table, facing him. "I think I know what it's related to," she said. "You're fortunate you know me, you know. Not many people are as well-informed as me. It isn't common knowledge.."

"What isn't?" he demanded, patience wearing thin.

"So, let me explain the Impact Hypothesis..."

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Gerabanzo said after Yui had finally finished talking. The sun was up fully by this point, and streaming in through her window. "Long long ago, a super-powerful alien race landed on this world. And then a _second_ super-powerful alien race landed on the same world, and the collision formed the moon. And that means the crop fields on your moon are probably contaminated with… absolute terror? Because it's a scary moon with a scary face?"

"... if you really want to simplify it that much, yes," Yui said, looking very pained. "Apart from the bit about the scary moon. That's not what an Absolute Terror Field is."

"Hah! Well, those alien races can't have been that powerful! They got replaced by your species!"

"Oh," said Yui, a slightly nasty smile on her lips, "where did anyone say anything about 'replacement'? We are the progeny of the second of these beings - we call it the Second Angel. Each human, individually, is a tiny fraction of the might of-"

"A very tiny fraction."

"Do you mind? I'm trying to be dramatic here!" Yui snapped.

"I don't want drama! I want explanations!"

Yui pouted, sighing as she ran her fingers through her brown hair. "Fine. Putting it more simply, I suppose you could say that humans are all little bits of a very, very powerful being." She sat back, waiting expectantly for an explosion or outrage.

Gerabanzo considered this. "That sounds possible," he said, after trying to fit it in his mind in a few different ways. He wondered why his scouter hadn't detected that - but then again, they were made by the lowest bidder on one of Frieza's planets.

"You're taking this remarkably well."

"Why? There are several alien races who can split their power between many weaker forms. Ichtarians, Saladabars, Namekians…" He crossed his arms. "I think it's even a learnable technique. So I suppose your progenitor was just a very stupid one that overused the technique and then forgot it was meant to be one being."

Yui harrumphed. "For a man who considers a tie a piece of advanced technology, you're being too calm about this."

"Huh?" He didn't understand her right now. Being the very rubbish descendent of a super-powerful alien race was just the sort of thing that happened.

"Never mind." She sighed. "Your hypothesis is… not impossible. We're not sure exactly what the early Lilin - that's another term for human - were like. There is indeed a school of thought in metaphysical biology that it may have been some kind of accident."

"Well, of course." His brow wrinkled. "I can't think why any species would want to be as weak as you humans. We aren't happy and we train and try to become more and more powerful. Why, our legends have stories of a more powerful form some of us could once take - the legendary super-saiyan!"

Yui perked up. "Oh! Was there any mention of bird-like masks in those tales?"

"No. Why?"

"... no reason."

"Hmm." Gerabanzo looked at Yui suspiciously. "And I assume that some humans plan to fuse with others to reclaim their old power?"

"I don't know what you mean," Yui said quickly.

"You know exactly what I mean. I know that's a thing that some aliens can do. And I know you, and that's probably the first thought you had when you found out," he said. Yui even managed to look somewhat guilty at that. "And it's what I'd do too." He paused. "Just two question. What does your true form look like?"

"My true…" Yui paused. "Oh, I see. Honestly, I don't know exactly. But it's probably pale, very large and may or may not have red eyes."

"Mmm. Next question. Can it fire energy beams from its mouth?"

"Hopefully!" Yui said firmly.

Gerabanzo nodded. "That's the right answer."

* * *

Alas, much to her personal annoyance Yui couldn't spend all the time with her new boyfriend. She had a degree to complete, and her future career plans didn't entail dropping out.

Staring out the window, she smiled to herself. One advantage of a non-human boyfriend was that there wasn't a risk of an accidental pregnancy. Motherhood wasn't in her plans for a long time - not when there were things like 'become a world-famous scientist', 'take over the world', and 'become immortal' as rather more pressing needs. Babies could follow immortality, if ever.

But right now what she was doing was taking significant amounts of her attention. It was unfortunately a necessary step in her plans, but it was a very boring step. And there was no way to do it other than the long, slow and painful way to do this.

Alas, a final review of her latest paper had to be done. Even if she didn't make mistakes, she had to pretend that she could - just in case she ever did. People would sneer at her if she did, and she couldn't be having that.

Sitting at the computer, Yui glared at the screen and plotted malevolent revenge against whoever had decided that she couldn't just cite herself. It was such a curse being more intelligent than your sources. And they kept on putting her name in the middle of the list of names, so people like Dr Furutaka and Dr Amagi could steal her credit. Some day she would remedy this. Some day.

This paper would help her case, at least. She'd stumbled across the paper she was responding to while doing research for her project, and while it had had some good ideas there was so much that could be done better. Since it was a literature review and critique, she could put herself in the most prominent location without getting relegated just because she was an undergraduate.

And of course, she'd made sure that she would be getting this published. All she'd needed to do was drop Daddy's name in an email conversation with the publisher, and - voila, he was suddenly very willing to make sure her paper got a fair showing.

It looked good. Time to get it printed and then submitted. She clicked print, and waited as the printer in her office hummed to life. She technically wasn't _meant_ to have a postgraduate office as an undergraduate, but rules were so easy to bend when you applied the right pressure in the right place.

Now, coffee time.

"Oh Yui!" Professor Fuyutsuki called out to her while she waited for the coffee machine to grind and whir its way into actually filling her mug.

"Ah, sensei," she said, smiling. "I'm just printing the paper now."

"It is very good," he said admiringly. "If you're doing work of this quality now, I can't think what you'll manage next year. I just hope you don't burn out young." He paused. "Have you been taking care of your body? Eating well? Not getting too many late nights?" he asked, not quite meeting her gaze.

"I'd say so," she said. "I've been up a bit late recently, but now I've finished this paper." This was technically true, but not actually related. "I have found a new thing to do outside of research, so we'll see how that goes."

"Oh?"

Her eyes gleamed wickedly. "You'll see soon enough."

"... should I be worried?" Kozo asked.

"Of course not."

Professor Fuyutsuki shuffled his feet. "It's good," he said, uncertainly. "Only I'd heard you went through a bad break-up recently."

Yui shrugged. "Not really."

"And I just want to say," he said, resting his hand on her shoulder paternally, "I'll always… wait, what?"

"Not really. I'd wanted to dump him for ages. I just needed an excuse."

The older man floundered. "Uh… well, that's good, I suppose. I hadn't thought he was good enough for you anyway."

"Well, yes, Mari said that too," Yui agreed.

"She's a smart girl," Kozo said. He coughed. "And… uh, Yui, something I've been meaning to bring up for a while?"

"Yes, sensei?"

"Have you been sending passive-aggressive corrections and bragging emails about your latest work to other academics again?"

"Why, sensei! I don't know what you mean? How could someone so innocent and a mere undergraduate like me ever do such things?" Yui said, fluttering her eyelashes.

Fuyutsuki sunk his head into his hands. "You have, haven't you?"

"Well… maybe a few…"

"How many?"

"I don't think that's really important," Yui said sanctimoniously. "After all, haven't you always told me it's the quality of your research that matters, not the quantity? And that a good academic should always welcome constructive criticism?"

"We've been getting complaints, you know."

"Then they should stop being wrong. They brought it on themselves."

* * *

Somewhere in another university in Japan, a woman gritted her teeth as a new email arrived and she saw who had sent it.

"Dr Akagi," the email read,

One thing of interest is next month's 'Metaphysical Biology of Japan'.  
Look for an article dissecting your theories on the use of organic components in computing.  
Despite the many problems in your paper and the lack of proper peer review, there's some hope.

Hopefully some of my corrections will help you avoid making the same mistakes again.  
At least you're not quite as bad as Dr Furutaka!  
Good luck!

Regards,

Yui Ikari"

Naoko Akagi gritted her teeth, glaring at the screen as if she wished she could throttle its sender.

"Ikaaaaaaaaaari!"

* * *

"... and in lighter news, there have been a wave of crop circles reported in the countryside. Government officials have warned that while it might seem like a light-hearted prank, some of the culprits have been apparently using explosives and starting fires to produce craters. We now go live to…"

"Ha!" Gendo said, baring his teeth. It looked like they'd found some of his countryside training spots. He couldn't let himself get out of practice, after all. He gave his punching bag a flurry of blows, and sent it flying across the room.

The locals here were very amenable to someone with a lot of money trying to rent an apartment. It was almost set up to his personal preference - blank concrete walls, a bed, nothing to get in the way. After spending so long crammed inside a pod, too much living space felt wrong to him. And the less he spent on useless things like 'carpets' and 'painted walls', the more he had to spend on food.

There were also very, very thick blackout curtains. He didn't want to have to cut off his tail. It was part of who he was. That meant that what he had to do was keep out of the poisoned moonlight of this world.

He did, however, have a television. It was something to watch, and he particularly liked the local shows where they inflicted pain on themselves for the sake of the amusement of the viewers. They called them 'game shows', but he called them real entertainment.

Gerabanzo knew he was finding time to fill his days, but he didn't care. As long as he didn't have too much time alone to think about things, he could almost forget that almost everyone he knew was dead. He might be the last member of his species left. All alone in the cold blackness of space, probably hunted by the Galactic Frieza Army. The last of the saiyans.

A better warrior than him would probably have sought vengeance. They would have trained hard, fought to within an inch of their life, healed, and then trained again. They would have put everything they had into being the instrument of justice for the saiyan race; punishment personified. Someone like Cale, Nappa or Bardok would have been raring for revenge, he just knew it.

Not him. He wasn't one of those brave, powerful warriors. He didn't know their secret techniques. He'd been in the Recon Corps! It trained you more for patience and the ability to tolerate cramped spaces for extended periods than it trained you in the fighting arts. He could train for years to get his revenge - and in the end, he'd still just be killed by elite soldiers like the Ginyu Force.

So hiding was his only choice. But here, with its poisonous moon, was not somewhere he'd want. In all the cold blackness of space, there had to be somewhere better…

… except for Yui. She was here, She was a star of light in this cold, numbing void. Maybe he should take her away from here. Find another world - but what if she said no? She was so weak, after all. How could she survive in space where he, too, would be hunted. He couldn't even guarantee that he'd keep her safe.

Slumping down on his bed, he stared up at the cold grey ceiling.

"Damn it all," he muttered to himself. If only Yui had been a saiyan. Things would have been perfect then. Instead, she was a human - aka apparently also lilin, he wasn't quite sure what was going on there - and so weak.

He really did need to start training her. Maybe within a decade, she might not-instantly-die if a saibaman looked her way with hostile intent.

Rolling over, he looked at the pile of books he'd got to try to help him learn these aliens' script. Their language was identical to Galactic Standard, but their writing wasn't. But he didn't want to do that. He couldn't face being alone.

He decided to head over to Yui's place and see if she had plans for tonight. He certainly did, and they involved her.

There was a letter tucked under his door, written in red ink. He glanced at it, but paid it no attention. It wasn't one of the fliers from the nearby fast-food restaurants which made food cheaper, so he wasn't interested in putting the time into translating it.

And then on the way there, several someones tried to kill him.

* * *

Gendo was whistling as he arrived back at Yui's apartment. He swept her off her feet to a death-glare from Mari, carrying her in a bridal carry through to her bedroom.

"You're in a good mood," she said, nuzzling him as she pulled off her top.

"I am," he said happily. "Fighting is always relaxing."

Yui paused in the act of trying to undo her bra. "Sorry, what?"

"Oh, a bunch of idiots in black suits with silly little guns shot me," Gerabanzo said. He pulled off his top, tossing it to her. "Look, there's the bullet holes."

"... are you hurt?" she said, holding it up to the light. Now she looked more closely, she could see that there were enough holes in his t-shirt that it looked like enthusiastic moths had gone after him.

"What, from little things like that?" he sneered, poking at his chest. "I've had worse insect bites." Actually, it had stung a fair bit and he just knew he was going to bruise - and things would have gone worse if he hadn't been ready - but she didn't need to know that.

"Really?" Yui asked, leaning forwards, eyes bright. "What kind of insects? I'd love to see! Maybe get my hands on some DNA samples and… wait, no, focus! So people just stopped you and… tried to shoot you?"

"They said something about me 'not listening to warnings'," Gerabanzo said helpfully.

"What warnings?"

"I don't know, woman!"

"... of course you don't, if you weren't listening to them. Oh," said Yui, pinching her brow. "That was probably Daddy."

"Daddy?"

"My father," Yui said self-deprecatingly. "Those were probably his enforcers sent to scare you off. Or kill you." She gritted her teeth. "Oh, Masaaki! That whiny little baby! Running off to Daddy to complain that I dumped him!"

Gerabanzo cracked his knuckles. "He's struck a blow against me. If he wants to fight, I should go find and splatter this Masaaki."

"Maybe later," Yui said, lips pursed. She disentangled herself from him, pacing up and down. "Hmm. Let me just think. If I were Daddy, what would I do? I'd probably…"

Her phone rang.

"... invite me and my new boyfriend around," Yui said, rummaging through her clothes for her phone. "Hello, Daddy."

She paused, listening to him.

"Why, yes, I do have a new boyfriend. No, I didn't tell you. It hasn't been going on long. No, I honestly don't see how it's any of your… no, I am not disrespecting you. It's just that what I do is my own…" she sighed. "Daddy, I remain suitable for marriage."

Gerabanzo could hear the raised voice at the other end of the phone. Yui held it away from her ear.

"That particular thing has nothing to do with marriage, Daddy" Yui said calmly. "It's 1997. It's the modern day. Look, just put Mama on the phone until you calm down, okay? Hi, Mama. Yes, Daddy is being a little hot-headed, isn't he? Mmm… well, you know, I should have another paper published next week. And…"

Yui covered the phone receiver. "How do you feel about Mama sending assassins after you to test you?" she asked Gerabanzo. "She says it'll help Daddy feel better about things."

He shrugged. "Could be interesting."

"He doesn't mind, Mama," Yui said into the phone. "Although he did just kill all of Daddy's first lot, so don't send anyone too valuable. Yes. Yes. Okay. Try to calm Daddy down, please. Yes, I'll see you there. Love you lots, Mama! And Daddy too, for all that he's being a silly. Bye! Bye! Bye!"

Utterly lost, Gerabanzo just stared at Yui. "Uh…"

"We're going around to my parents' next weekend," Yui said firmly. "And you're going to be on your best behaviour, do you understand?"

"Should I…" he began.

"Don't kill my parents. Only the murderers they send after you." Yui frowned. "It'll annoy Daddy even more to lose more men, but it can't be helped. And it'll certainly make Mama look more favourably on you."

"... is this a human custom?" Gerabanzo asked, vaguely impressed.

"Family tradition," Yui said with a shrug.


	5. Act 1: Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

There was an old man who fished alone on a bridge in the Ikari estate and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.

"He's one of Daddy's sentries," Yui said to Gerabanzo softly, as they drove past him. "Daddy'll know we're coming; he'll radio it in."

Turning a bend in the narrow mountain roads, they came into view of Yui's childhood home. The Ikari household turned out to be a sizeable rural estate up in the mountains. An old, well-maintained and rebuilt wooden castle rose above a compound, and below the compound sat a village. Despite the seemingly old-fashioned environs, however, the signs of modernity were everywhere in tastefully discreet ways. There were security cameras hidden in the foliage of the dense woodland, and a hillock on the approach was revealed to be concealing a private air-strip from the castle.

For his part, Gerabanzo was silently bemoaning his fate. Yui had been entirely firm that he was going to be entirely Gendo for this trip. Under no circumstances was he to reveal his saiyan nature, or he would meet a dreadful fate - firstly from her, then from her father and his associates, and then if he survived that from her again.

Much to his annoyance, that meant he had to wear a suit again. It was itching his tail, but she told him that he had to just grin and bear it. At least he had sunglasses now, so the fact that he wasn't allowed to wear his scouter wasn't quite as bad.

"You have a castle?" he asked Yui, looking up at the citadel.

"Oh, it's been in the family for generations," Yui said casually. "We own all the land around here. Everyone in the village down there works for Daddy. This place was built by a samurai who saved his master in a battle and was rewarded with a grant of land to build a fortress to watch over the borders and keep out all invaders. He served with honour, holding to the old ways and keeping the traditions. And then one of my ancestors brought a lot of cannons along, broke the walls, and took the castle by force. And it's been ours ever since."

Gendo nodded soundly. That made sense.

The village might have looked like a normal settlement from a distance, but from within, its true nature was revealed. Figures in black uniforms wearing a seven-eyed badge patrolled the streets, while the training fields were full of exercising recruits. As the car passed through, every eye turned to watch the outsiders.

An honour guard of black uniformed soldiers was already waiting when Yui drove into the entrance to the compound. One was waiting to take the car off to a hidden garage which temporarily revealed a collection of armoured vehicles, while another two took their bags.

"Those are the same people who tried to kill me," Gendo said softly.

"FAUST work for Daddy. Stay calm," Yui whispered to Gendo. "We can do this."

"I am calm," he whispered back. "Your father is only going to _try_ to kill me. He won't succeed."

She scowled at him, her glare declaring what she felt of his perceived overconfidence. Admittedly, he was harbouring a little more doubts than he let on. He didn't know what hidden weapons they might have here. However, his thoughts were interrupted by Yui's delighted cry of "Mama!" as she rushed over to embrace the woman who'd just come out of the main doors.

Yui's mother was a woman in her early fifties, wearing a somewhat archaic yukata in sombre colours. Her long hair had a hint of grey at the roots and was darker than her daughter's. Despite the faint marks of age on her face, she possessed a quiet beauty that Yui had inherited.

"Yui, darling," she declared, her arms wrapped around her daughter. "It's good that you made time to come see your old mother."

"Oh, Mama," Yui said fondly, as she detached. "Mama, this is Gendo. Gendo, this is my mother, Ohatsu."

She met Gerabanzo's stare, and just for a moment there was something cold, dead, and utterly clinical about her eyes. Then that moment was gone as if it had never been, and she was smiling. But he hadn't missed the contained killing intent in her eyes.

Well, that or disapproval. But as a saiyan warrior, he always assumed killing intent.

"So you're Gendo," she said.

"That's my name," Gerabanzo lied.

"Such a tall man," she said, stepping up, and pinching his arm. "And good muscles, too." She gave him an analytic look. "Well chosen, dear," she said to Yui, one eyebrow raised suggestively.

"Mama!" Yui gasped, flushing pink. "Not in front of the help!"

"Well, then come inside, and we can sit down and have some tea."

As they turned around, Yui gestured to Gendo behind her back. He got the feeling that he was being advised quite strongly to be careful what he ate and drank here.

This would be his toughest challenge yet.

* * *

"Another tea biscuit?" asked Ohatsu.

"Mmmph," said Gendo, taking five. They were kneeling around a low table, in a paper-walled traditional room in the the castle overlooking the village.

Yui just stared in outraged horror.

"I do like a man who appreciates his food," Ohatsu said, her lips curling up.

"He needs to watch his diet," Yui said meaningfully.

"I'll watch it for him," her mother said placidly. "I've known plenty of big eaters in my time. A lot of them, really." She paused. "Most of them are dead, but that's just how life goes."

"Hmm." Yui glowered. "What did they die of, Mama?"

"Oh, all sorts of things. Poisoning, stabbings, throttlings, garottings, point blank execution with a handgun…"

Yui sighed. "Please don't poison another one of my boyfriends, Mama."

"Yui, darling, I didn't poison any of them before."

"No, you just didn't leave any evidence that a court of law could use against you."

"Regardless of who poisoned who, it's legally the same thing."

"No. No, it is not. Where is Daddy, by the way?"

"Your father has a meeting with his friends."

"Ah," Yui said, subtly shifting to help the blood flow in her legs. "I see. Well, perhaps I should show Gendo to my room and then maybe take him around the gardens."

"Really? He seems to really be appreciating my tea."

"Yes, Mama, that's what concerns me."

* * *

"What bit of 'be careful of what you eat' did you not understand?" Yui hissed as they made their way upstairs.

"I was being careful," Gendo said. "I made sure that I ate everything."

Yui paused, and gently bashed her head into the wall a few times. It apparently made her feel slightly better. Perhaps it was a much weaker human version of the boost that saiyans got from being beaten to within an inch of their lives. "That's not what I meant," she said. "What I meant was-"

"Excuse me, ma'am," one of the black-uniformed soldiers said. He was standing next to one of the doors on the landing, although the door itself was quite hard to see. The man was built like a brick wall, and had a heavy baton at his hip. "I have strict orders. Only you are permitted access to your bedroom. Your… guest is to wait outside."

"It's my room and I'm allowed to go in with my boyfriend," Yui said, jawline stubborn.

"With all due respect, ma'am, no you are not. Your father's orders. He says that when you're under his roof, you will show him honour."

Yui ground her teeth. "And I expect you want Gendo to go off with you while you show him to his room," she said.

"Those are my orders, ma'am." He cracked his knuckles. "I'm to take care of him."

Gendo shrugged. "Go on, then."

"This is going to be fun," the human mountain said in a low voice. "I had friends in that squad that you killed."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Well, go on," Gendo said, taking off his sunglasses and tucking them in a pocket. "Where am I going to be staying?"

"Right this way. Yeah, right this way. We got a special place prepared for you."

"Don't kill him!" Yui called out, concern in her voice as the two men left.

Two minutes later, Gendo walked back in, his shirt slightly ruffled. "Not dead," he said, with a certain grim satisfaction. "He's only going to be eating soup, though. And he's going to need someone to hold the spoon for him because I broke both his arms. And he's going to be in a wheelchair while someone holds the spoon, because I broke both his legs."

"Oh _my_ ," said Yui, eyes gleaming wickedly. "Did you even raise a sweat?"

"Not much of one. He was strong for a h… hidiot, but he was soon moaning and begging for mercy."

"Did you have him on his hands and knees?"

"After I broke his first leg, yes."

"Were you pounding him hard?"

"No. You told me not to kill him." He wasn't entirely sure where this was going.

Yui seemed about to say something, before she changed her mind. "Oh, just come on. In here, before they send another one! Let's make Daddy furious!"

* * *

Mitsuhide Ikari was a balding man in his sixties, who wore western clothes unlike his wife. His white linen suit was utterly immaculate. Every inch of him save for his eyes radiated money, power and influence.

His eyes, however, were instead radiating a certain grim fury which indicated he knew exactly why his daughter's hair was slightly mussed and her cheeks flushed.

"You are Gendo Rokubungi," the old man said. The Ikaris were seated around a table.

Gendo had lost his tie and undone his top button. Those were certainly contributing to his good mood, so he was feeling magnanimous. "Yes. It's good to meet Yui's father."

That seemed to only spoil the atmosphere more. "I would like to know how you broke the arms and legs of my head of security."

"I punched and kicked him repeatedly because he tried to bludgeon me with an electrified baton," Gendo said.

"Daddy!" Yui said, affecting shock.

"He's obviously lying," Mitsuhide said without a hint of shame. "For goodness sake, Yui, do you really believe I'd order that?"

"Of course you would, Daddy. It wouldn't be the first time."

"It is a sign of the moral decay of this world and the improper ways of the young that a daughter has so little faith in her father," he replied coldly. "I clearly spoiled you when you were younger."

Yui crossed her arms and glared at him.

"And there you are, acting in such a flagrantly disrespectful manner." The man leaned forwards. "Very well. As I have made entirely clear - and you have failed to learn - I do not believe you are suitable for my daughter, _Mister_ Rokubungi."

"Oh," Gendo said.

"You are too old for her. You have a suspiciously clean background and irregularities in your papers. The ministries want me to believe that is because of some mysterious fires in some of their bureaus that destroyed records and have left them in quite some disarray."

"Oh," said Gendo.

"Let me be quite blunt - _do you really expect me to believe such bullshit_?"

"Mitsuhide," Yui's mother said calmly. "Language. No swearing in front of your daughter. She might take the wrong lessons from it."

"Wrong lessons? Wrong lessons? She's apparently already learned entirely the wrong lessons, considering that she just-"

"Mitsuhide!"

The man took a deep breath, and smoothed down his cream-coloured suit. "Apologies," he said tersely and without any real sorrow in his voice. "Still, as my daughter keeps on telling me whenever she wants to disrespect and dishonour me, this is the _modern era_. The souls of men might be wretched, inferior things weak and impotent, but-"

"Oh, you're not wrong there," Gendo agreed firmly.

"I beg your pardon," the man said, eyes narrowing.

"The souls of men. They're nearly worthless."

Mitsuhide Ikari sat back in his chair, eyes suddenly wary. "Well, that's certainly an interesting statement. How much have you _blabbed_ , Yui?"

"I inducted him with a basic discussion of the Impact Hypothesis, as befits a suitable Primus-grade recruit," Yui said calmly. "He seemed amenable to the basic principles. His observations on the human soul were his own, though. I merely broached the topic of the Hypothesis."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Oh, grow up, Daddy," Yui snapped. "I know you hate that I have a boyfriend you didn't pick out for me, but even you can't deny I have an eye for talent. Gendo will be _very_ useful. I would be saying that even if I wasn't in a relationship with him."

"Yui, darling," said Ohatsu, "what have I told you about letting your feelings get in the way of your objectives?"

"That's not what this is about, mama. I truly believe that Gendo has real potential here for aiding the scenario."

"Hmm." Ohatsu traced her finger on the fine table, glancing at her husband. "I know you're not happy about this, dear, but I think we should hear her out."

"She's just a young besotted girl who doesn't know what's best for her!"

"Would you have called me a young besotted girl when you recruited me?" the older woman asked cuttingly.

"That's not the same! She's only twenty! And you had… your own talents."

Ohatsu smiled broadly, sipping at her tea. "Perhaps your daughter feels he has talents too. You two are very much alike. Perhaps that's why she hates all the men you pick out for her. After all, didn't you turn down many of the women your parents selected for you."

Mitsuhide flushed. "That's not the same!"

"Isn't it?" She clicked her tongue. "Honestly, I'm glad Yui has the good taste to reject those dreadfully bland young men you seem to think she should date. Dull, dull men on fast-tracked careers in the government or ties to major banking clans. Haven't you lectured me enough about hybrid vigour?"

"I take your point. There's no need to belabour it," the older man said crisply.

"So I think you and Yui need to take a walk in the gardens and calm down, away from prying eyes," she continued. "Perhaps if Gendo wasn't present, you might be able to talk to each other like adults. Yui, you deliberately set out to annoy your father and you owe him an apology."

Yui swallowed and nodded. "Yes, Mama."

"And Mitsuhide, you're acting like you're the child, not her. So the two of you should go outside and take a walk and let all the negative energy out. Because neither of you are going to ruin my dinner tonight, do you understand me?"

* * *

Gerabanzo was left alone, with Yui's mother. The woman rose carefully.

"Well, young man," she said. "I think we should also have a talk about your intentions towards my daughter. Let us walk, so we're nowhere near my husband and daughter as they scream at each other."

Ah ha. Gerabanzo knew how to handle this. This was the customary part in any saiyan courtship when the mother of the woman checked the power levels of the prospective partner, either by sparring with him or simply seeing what techniques he knew.

Wait. Humans probably did it differently.

"So, are you aware that once you're involved with this family and its particular interests, there's no way out? Once SEELE has its seven eyes on you, they don't blink."

Gerabanzo blinked. "Sorry, SEELE?"

"Excuse me? My goodness, Yui was telling the truth. She's not as good a liar as I might have hoped, but maybe I was hoping that she might have improved." She crossed her hands in front of her. "SEELE is a secret organisation with power in the world's governments my husband is closely involved in, while myself and my daughter are somewhat more peripheral. FAUST is the military wing of SEELE."

"Ah." Gerabanzo nodded solidly. "The army of a secret government."

"You don't sound surprised."

It wasn't very surprising. Of course you'd want your own private army. He'd been part of the Galactic Frieza Army. Once Yui mastered the art of saiyan cloning for him, he'd have his own. First you build up an army, then you find a collection of elite warriors to lead it with unusual powers. That was just how things worked in the galaxy. "I'd guessed it," he said. "And I presume these are just the mainstay forces from how easily I defeated it. I haven't encountered your elites yet."

Of course, they'd be human elites, or in other words considerably less dangerous than a saiyan toddler, but it was probably the best this world could do.

"You are a very well-informed young man," she said appreciatively.

"I analysed the situation."

"And I presume you spent time in," she glanced at him, "hmm, if you were military, you were special forces. A little too lax for a line soldier. But I think you were a mercenary rather than a proper soldier."

She had good eyes. "I carried out reconnaissance for a certain military force," he said. "But I quit," because they blew up his home planet, he didn't add.

"Mmm." Ohatsu reached out and traced Gerabanzo's jawline with her finger. "You know, I have just one more question," she said.

He grunted.

And then she _moved_. Her hand darted out like a snake, moving faster than anything he'd seen in this world. A thunderclap sounded, deafeningly loud in this closed space. Her open-handed palm-strike snapped Gerabanzo's head back, and he staggered back.

He straightened up, a trickle of blood oozing from his nose, teeth bared.

"Where did you train?" Ohatsu asked, taking on a defensive stance.

"You hit me!" Gerabanzo said, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

"You're still conscious," Ohatsu said sweetly. "Both of us have had quite a surprise."

"You actually hit me!"

"Who was your master?" she asked, circling around him. "I knew you had to be a martial artist. I could feel your ki." The woman smiled in genuine pleasure. "I'm glad Yui has done well for herself. She takes too much after her father, I'm afraid. So materialistic, the two of them."

"My master?"

"Who did you train under?"

"Several people," Gerabanzo answered honestly. "But my first tutors were my parents, Mustar and Samfira."

"... they're not familiar to me. Well, interesting." She lowered her hands, and bowed to him. "I am Ohatsu, and I trained with Master Minekaze at the school of the Veiled Crane."

"Why shouldn't I kill you here and now?" he growled.

"Because it would make my daughter very upset," Ohatsu retorted, head still bowed.

Damn. She was right.

"I know you could kill me," she said calmly. "That would snap the neck of any normal human. No one has ever taken a clean blow like that and stayed awake." She crossed her hands, and suddenly she had knives held between her fingers. "And I doubt these would have helped," she added, the knives vanishing back up the sleeves of her yukata. "But… ah, my daughter, she needs someone more in touch with inner paths to enlightenment. She and my husband are so materialistic, so focussed on the outer world. I've tried to teach her that anywhere could be like Heaven, and she has a chance to be happy any time because she's alive. I'm never sure how much it sunk in."

It sounded like rubbish to the saiyan, holding his bloodied nose.

"But I still think that their path is the better one for mankind, if all their plans of oneness lead to something," Ohatsu added. "There are limits to what one can manage with martial arts. Limits that you seem to have surpassed. I would love to know your secrets."

She reached out, and he raised his palm, ready to blast her to ashes if she looked like she was going to hit him again. The woman laughed. "I was just going to pat you," she said. "You make my daughter happy, and I suspect you can keep her safe better than any of the patsies we pick up for her. To think she'd find such a powerful martial artist all on her own, when I gave up on her as a useless weak child who couldn't even sense ki by age six."

Wait, this woman claimed she could sense power levels? Rubbish. But he didn't want to admit ignorance. "I see," he said. "You couldn't train her?"

Ohatsu flapped her hand. "Useless child. Far too bookish and not interested in fighting at all. There's no point in teaching a second-rate fighter - and I simply could not tolerate a child of mine being merely _mediocre_. Her inability to master such a basic technique was the last straw. I love her dearly, but she's very much her father's daughter."

"I had wondered why she was so weak," he said.

"Because even when she was little, she'd rather spend her time locked away in her room reading," Ohatsu said sadly. "Honestly!"

A thought occurred to Gerabanzo. "So where is this school?" he asked. Maybe there were stronger fighters on this world - ones he could train with, or kill if they were going to be threats. "Where might I find it?"

Ohatsu smiled, and there was the cold dead look in her eyes again. "I'm afraid that would be quite hard," she said. "The School of the Veiled Crane is no more. I defeated and killed them all."

"Oh?" Gendo asked, interested and amused.

"I was Master Minekaze's prodigy and star pupil. He refused to teach me certain techniques, saying they were 'spiritually dangerous' and that I wasn't ready for them," Ohatsu said mildly. "Well, of course, that was entirely his fault. What happened next was entirely on his head - well, his head and the other foolish students who sought revenge after I killed him. I am the sole practitioner of Veiled Crane style left alive." She waited to see how Gendo was would react.

He simply laughed.

"Yes, it amused me too," Ohatsu said. "SEELE hired me to… dispose of certain enemies of theirs and then to train certain elite soldiers of theirs, and then one thing lead to another and Yui showed up." She patted Gendo again. "Don't blame Mitsuhide. He's a stick in the mud and he's overprotective, but he knows exactly what he's doing. SEELE's path to transcendence is possible."

"That opens up new possibilities," said Gerabanzo, because he wasn't sure what was going on but felt he had to say something.

"That's exactly what I thought," she said, nodding. "Oh, and Gendo? If you get my daughter pregnant, I expect you to do the proper thing."

"There is no risk of that happening," Gerabanzo said, shivering. But then again, it didn't hurt to promise something there was no risk of. "But yes, I would."

"Then that's all I ask." She paused. "Well, that's not true, but that's all for now. I will speak to my husband. I am offering you my hand here on behalf of SEELE. Do not betray this trust, Gendo - or we will see how many men it takes to kill you."


	6. Act 1: Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. This was also known as '1pm', but all the clocks in Yui and Gendo's new apartment were 24 hour clocks.

"You're going _where_?" asked Gendo over lunch.

"I'm really sorry, but I have a conference in Germany," Yui said. "My degree paper is one of the top topics of discussion there, and I'm getting all expenses paid. I understand…"

"No, what I mean is, where is Germany?"

Yui recalibrated her expectations. It may have been nearly a year since Gendo had arrived from space, but that just meant his knowledge of Earth was a trifle eclectic. They had moved in together after Yui completed her degree - which Mari hadn't taken well - and were living a life of contented domestic bliss and also sinister conspiring. "It's a country in Europe."

"Uh huh."

"... on the other side of the world."

"Oh." Gendo swallowed a sandwich whole. "How long?"

"Five days." Yui rubbed her eyes. "Urgh, I'm going to be wrecked by jet lag while I'm over there. I suppose I'll just have to run entirely on coffee."

"I could fly over there," he said.

Her smile didn't reach her eyes. "I'm going to be busy all the time," she said. "And I'm going to need to be working on my presentation. It's not finished yet. Sorry, Gendo."

Despite being a murderous ape-man from outer space, he looked like nothing more than a kicked puppy at that. And then he sighed. "Well, I suppose. I have things I need to do for 'our mutual friends'."

"See! You need to think of your career too."

Gendo finished off the last of the noodles. "But it's just not the same without you. It's meeting with people and it's dull."

"Are you remembering to make cryptic remarks? Cryptic remarks are important. They help cover up any weakness or uncertainty."

"Yes, dear."

* * *

Yui wasn't here. Gendo stared at the wall, blankly. Yui wasn't here, and he was alone.

Bright sunlight shone down through the windows. He got up and closed them, then lay back down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. His tail itched; he scratched it. Without her, he felt like an unwound toy. He felt cold and grey, like he wasn't alive.

It was funny - in a not very funny way - how the last year had changed him. A year ago, he had just been fine being alone. Well, not truly fine, but loneliness had been the base state of his being.

Now, having had someone, he realised what he had lost - and what he had never had.

He growled to himself. He was even thinking of himself as 'Gendo' now. What kind of pathetic excuse for a saiyan warrior was he? Moping and brooding because his alien lover wasn't here? He should go out and… and… and…

Rolling out of bed, he stalked through to the kitchen and found something to eat. He _was_ a pathetic excuse for a saiyan warrior. Everyone had said that. He'd been told that when he had been in training and General Nappa had come through to inspect the new recruits. The bastard had told him he'd never account to anything than being just another low-class warrior.

Well, they were all dead, and he wasn't. That was something he'd achieved that they hadn't!

He glared at the window and the sun. He needed to find something to do. Go out and exhaust himself in some way to avoid having to think about his life. And he'd keep himself in shape too.

* * *

It was raining in Germany. Staring out the window, Yui sighed, and lowered the blinds.

"Something wrong, Ikari?" Dr Hood asked. The elderly scientist popped open his briefcase on the table, revealing the seven-eyed sigil within the briefcase.

She forced herself to smile. "I'm jetlagged and it's raining here. Just wishing I was back in Tokyo."

"Well, I do hope that won't ruin your speech," he said, pulling out his laptop.

"So do I," she said, shaking her head. She recovered a CD from a pocket of her blouse. "Here. My progress so far. For your analysis."

"Thank you very much, little Yui," he said patronisingly.

"And," Yui continued, passing over a second disc, "something from my father."

"Ah ha. Thank you indeed." He inserted the disc, typed in the 16 digit code, and looked at the rainbow pattern of data that appeared. "Well, well, well. So the Mother of Man stirs in her sleep."

"So I understand," Yui said.

"Our time is running out as a species," Dr Hood said. "The millennium approaches, and the Dead Sea Scrolls say that our doom will make itself evident in that year. We must ensure it is a doom we control, rather than anyone else. All too soon the doors to the Chamber of Guf will close. Ascension awaits, Yui."

"Yes, doctor."

"The Project will be the sacred vessel for godhood. It shall be an avatar of mankind unchained - and we shall chain it. It shall be our spear, thrust up at the heart of God."

"Yes doctor," Yui said again. She coughed. "Now, with regards to GEHIRN, when the UN formally founds it..."

"Ah, yes. I know you're angling for a leadership position, Yui. You're your father's daughter, indeed."

"Is that a compliment?" she asked dryly.

"It's… a statement of fact. Speaking here and now, I doubt you'll get it. You're too young - and certain individuals, myself of course not included, would not like to see GEHIRN fall too closely within the reach of FAUST." He looked Yui in the eye. "Oh, cheer up. You'd be wasted on leadership, Yui. Preliminary systems work has already begun on the Evangelions' control systems. Your work is instrumental here. Although… I have been following your systems work on power supply for such a weapons platform."

Ah. "Yes?" Yui asked, folding her hands in front of her.

"Such a curious solution for the ever-prominent issue of power. I have just one issue with it."

"What? But it's the best that can be managed within the limitations of modern technology! We won't be able to fit a nuclear reactor onboard, battery technology has its limits, and replicating our own S2 Engine is far beyond us!" Yui said, words spilling out of her mouth.

"Oh, it's not that," Dr Hood said. "Technically, the solution is clearly the best we can achieve, and your insights of how to interface the systems with the synthetic biology are without question. I believe it'll radically reform our plans and allow the designs to be scaled up. But...well, Yui, all in all… it's the name."

"The name?"

"You want to call it the 'Tail', but we at the Artificial Evolution Laboratory don't really feel that's fitting."

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's not really within theme. We're going to call the system the 'umbilical cable'. Much more fitting, eh?"

Yui opened her mouth. Yui closed her mouth. "But it's on the back!" she finally managed. "It's a tail, not an…" She sighed. "Fine. Fine. Call a tail an umbilical cable. Fine."

"See!" The old man smiled. "With an attitude like that, you'll go far. Now, chop chop. Don't you have a speech to give later today?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Yui said, seething.

* * *

"... and that is why so many of the existing examples of power flow management to synthetic biology are so poorly handled," Yui said from her position on the lectern. She looked over the crowd. Every individual here was involved at least on the periphery of SEELE's great work. They might not have known exactly what was going on here, but they knew about the Impact Hypothesis and they knew that some of the samples they worked with were not from life as it was known.

"But through a four-phase rapid N-A-C-R cycle ensuring that Destrudo and Libido are kept in synthesised artificial tension, the use of a moderating medium can completely obsolete the proposed use of a Master-AGI control system. Ladies and gentlemen, through this we can massively improve the response time of the Prototype Frame and so potentially reach the capacity to extrude an AT-Field!"

The applause was overwhelming and thunderous. However, several of the people in the crowd were not applauding. Coincidentally, those people were without exception people who Yui Ikari had been sending critical and mean emails to.

One such example was Naoko Akagi, who had just been told that the use of Master-AGI systems in Project Evangelion had just been rendered obsolete.

"Ikaaaaaaaaaari," she hissed between her teeth.

* * *

"Yes, Daddy," Yui said, phone propped against her shoulder as she sat at a table in the conference hall. "Yes, it went very well. I was congratulated by several lead figures in the field afterwards. Why, Dr Bouclier said that it might be revolutionary. Yes, yes, I gave Dr Hood the files you wanted me to." She paused, listening to something. "No, Daddy, like I said, Gendo isn't with me. The funding didn't cover taking him - which is almost certainly your fault… no, I'm not being suspicious and paranoid, I just know my own father."

She listened a bit more.

"Well, I'm exhausted here," she said. "The jet lag is wrecking me. I think I'm going to just go back to my hotel and try to sleep despite the coffee. The nerves from my speech mean I'm still shaking. So I'll call you tomorrow, when I'm feeling more human. Okay. Okay. Talk to you then, then. Love you! Tell Mama that it went well too! Okay! Bye!"

Yui yawned and stretched, swirling her coffee around. Yes. Her hotel bed was calling to her. And a bath, too, if she could avoid drowning in it.

"Hello? Hello? Is Yui Ikari in here?" There was a loud clatter of falling things, and the shatter of a dropped cup. "Oopsie!"

Yui grimaced. Not now. It was her least fav… her second least… her third…

She had got down to her twelfth least favourite person in the world by the time that Dr Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu actually managed to successfully make her way over to the table where Yui was seated, only dropping her folders once more in the process. In truth, it wasn't specifically that she _hated_ Kyoko, per se. It wasn't exactly hate.

"It's so good to see you again, Yui!" Kyoko exclaimed bouncily, wrapping her up in an embrace and incidentally mashing the pokey bits of the things she was carrying right into Yui's chest.

It was, however, extreme annoyance.

The other woman took after her German heritage and was notably taller than her, with her long strawberry blonde hair hanging messily loose. She was older than Yui chronologically, but mentally Yui considered her to be best treated as if she was around seven. She was wearing a fluffy and somewhat stained jumper, and mismatched socks. Kyoko combined a certain peppy energy with a fondness for the colour pink, extreme clumsiness, and a lack of understanding of personal space.

"So, long time no see! I haven't been back to Japan in… like, at least half a year! How've you been? I saw your presentation and it was super-amazing!"

It wasn't like she was malevolently inclined. Yui knew malevolence. She could deal with it. But mis-aimed, clumsy friendliness combined with an inability to notice that Yui didn't actually like her much meant that she was basically a nail file rasped over Yui's nerves.

"It's good to see you again, Kyoko," she said, carefully making sure her coffee was a long way away from the other woman's elbows. And not a moment too soon, because Kyoko dumped her folders onto the table without any seeming care for what had been there previously. "How have you been keeping up with things?"

And the worst thing was...

"Oh, you know how it is. I've been working on constructing the protein manifold for a cas9-based transactivator that is targeted to DNA sequences by guide RNA molecules. Combining cells harvested from Antarctic wildlife with features of the human genome, I'm hoping to achieve coexpression of this transactivator and combinations of guide RNAs in non-human cells inducing specific expression of endogenous target genes. If everything goes as it should, it'll demonstrate a simple and versatile approach for RNA-guided gene activation in terrestrial subjects!"

… she was quite possibly more intelligent than Yui herself. Yui hated to admit it, even to herself, but from all available evidence the bits of Kyoko's brain which should have been used for things like 'emotional maturity' and 'the ability to read social cues' were instead preoccupied with thinking about science.

"I see," said Yui.

"Of course the funding people are being difficult about it," Kyoko said with a pout, "but I'm sure that everyone will be able to work together and sort through all difficulties! Think of the benefits!"

"To whom?"

"I don't follow. New research _is_ its own benefit."

Yui steepled her fingers. "I'm sorry, Kyoko, but I'm not sure your funding council will accept that."

"I know! People can be so mean sometimes!"

"Have you ever tried… phrasing your arguments and your case in a way which would be useful to the person judging it?" Yui hinted meaningfully.

Those blue eyes gazed back at her, worryingly devoid of thought for someone who was - by certain metrics - a serious contender for the most intelligent person on the planet. "Are you talking about lying to people?" Kyoko asked, shocked.

"Not lying, but…"

"You know scientists shouldn't lie!"

"That's true," Yui lied.

Kyoko reached out and grasped her by the hands, incidentally knocking two of her folders off the table. "But I just remembered! I wanted to show you something! Come on! I need a whiteboard!"

Shaking her head, Yui downed her coffee, and let herself be man-handled off by the enthusiastic German.

* * *

"So. You've solved the constraint problem," Yui said heavily.

Kyoko gestured at the whiteboard, which was now covered in cutesy pictures of giant mechanised killing machines. "Yep!" she said happily.

"You know you'll need to discuss this with the power management engineering team," Yui said, but she already knew that Kyoko's ideas would be functional. It was one of her moderately annoying habits. "Have you told anyone else yet?"

"No! I had this idea when I was listening to your speech! Now you freed up power by giving us a way to avoid having to integrate a full MAGI into the Unit, I realised this thing was possible! I had the idea in a dream, but then realised that it wouldn't work in the same dream!"

Yui massaged her temples. Piece by piece, the design of the Evangelion was taking form. She was pushing ahead, helped by things that she had derived from the records on Gendo's pod and her own examinations of his physiology, but she wasn't the sole driving force and Kyoko had just reminded her of this.

One way or another, the Evangelion would be born. Physically there were only prototype massively scaled down test models of the mechanical parts and they hadn't resolved the issue of managing the angelic flesh, but they were getting there.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Kyoko. She wondered if the other woman actually thought about what her work would be used for.

"It'll be incredible!" Kyoko said, adding cat ears to the demonic oni-mask she'd drawn. "With the Evangelions, just think! We'll be able to carry out mega-engineering projects we've never thought of before! They'll be the ultimate weapon of peace, because with the battery limitations no one will be able to attack anyone else because you can't invade someone when you might have an hour of power at most! And it'll keep everyone safe from the bad people! No one will dare fight anyone else when they have an Evangelion defending them!"

Ah. So she did think about what they'd be used for. She thought wrongly, but she did think.

"Very true," Yui said.

Her phone rang. It was Gendo.

"Sorry," she said, "let me just take this. It's my boyfriend." Stepping away, she answered. "What is it?"

* * *

Looking around his jail cell, Gendo considered how to put things.

"Well, you know how you're not here," he began, his scouter conveying his words to her.

"Mmm."

"So I felt I should perhaps go out and relax a bit."

"Relax a bit."

"You know, go out and train a bit in the countryside."

"Oh no," Yui whispered.

Gendo felt somewhat hurt about that. "So, there I was, practicing some moves on a nearby mountain."

"Which mountain?"

"The one near Tokyo," he said. "Obviously I wasn't going to fly too far."

"What moves were you 'practicing' on Mt Fuji?" Yui hissed.

Gendo rolled his shoulders, shifting on the hard bench. "Oh, my powerful ones. I really needed a work-out that would exhaust me, because I was having problems sleeping with you not there."

There was just silence down the other end of the line.

"So there might have been a few avalanches," Gendo continued, "and the cone might not be quite as symmetrical as it used to be."

The silence continued.

"And then maybe a few helicopters showed up," he added.

Yet more silence.

"And they may have been shooting missiles at me. So after I blew them up, I decided to go home. Only I'd been training hard and I wanted some food and a drink, so I went to a bar."

"This isn't the end?" Yui said in a breathy squeak.

"I'm getting to it! So in the bar, someone started trying to have a go at me just because I was sitting in 'his' seat."

"What kind of someone?"

"I don't know. He had a lot of tattoos, though. So did everyone else in the bar, of course. In fact, they'd been staring at me since I walked in. Of course, I wasn't going to stand for that, but I'd like to say before you say anything, I wasn't the one who threw the first punch. That was him." Gendo grinned. He had listened to her. "I did headbutt him in the hand, though. Broke every bone in his fingers. And then, well, the rest of the bar attacked me. And they had weapons!"

"Is that it?" Yui asked faintly. "You got into a fight with an entire yakuza bar?"

"It wasn't really a fight," Gendo hastened to reassure her. "None of them were any challenge at all. I wasn't even the one who set the bar on fire! That was one of them, when they tried to throw a lit bottle of spirits at me."

Yui once again was silent.

"But then the police showed up and arrested everyone. And I remembered what you said about not fighting the police, so I let them arrest me. And now I'm in a cell. They say they're willing to release me into someone's custody, though."

* * *

Yui pinched her brow. That was actually good, believe it or not. That they were willing to bail him suggested that they thought he was just an innocent person who'd been there at the time. She could just imagine how the police felt when the yakuza claimed that one man had taken down an entire bar. They probably thought the criminals were blaming it on an outsider.

"Look, just ask to call Kozo Fuyutsuki. He works at Tokyo University, and he was my undergraduate tutor," she said. No, it wouldn't be a good idea to ask her parents for help here. "I can't come collect you. I'm in Germany, remember? Just don't confess to anything, got it?"

"I understand. Love you," Gendo said.

"I love you too, but I'm not happy with you," Yui said. "Goodbye. I'll see you when I get home." She hung up, and opened the door.

Kyoko fell over, from where she had been listening at the door.

"Really?" Yui asked wearily, rather glad that she had assumed that someone had been listening to her.

"I was curious!" Kyoko said as she picked herself up, as if that explained everything. "Boyfriend problems?"

"The idiot got himself arrested by accidentally walking into a yakuza bar where they were having a fight," Yui said, anger simmering.

"Oh! I know exactly how you're feeling!" Kyoko said wisely. "A lot of my exes have had problems with the law. But Hanz is different! I'm so lucky this time that I've found someone better!"

Yui blinked. "Wasn't your boyfriend called Peter?" she asked.

"Oh, no, he left me," Kyoko said. "He was going out with someone else and then she found out and… and she put her foot down and he picked her over me." She shook her head sadly. "It wasn't the first time either. I don't know why this keeps happening to me."

Yui opened her mouth to explain. Yui decided that it was far too much effort. "I don't know," she said, squeezing Kyoko's shoulders. "But maybe it might be a good idea to focus on your work instead of relationships. You're much better at metabiology than men. I'm not telling you to break off anything," she said hastily, "but you know, Project E is at an important point," and I wouldn't trust you to pick out your own clothes, let alone engage in a relationship, she didn't add.

"How do you always seem to find things so easy, Yui?" Kyoko wailed. "You're younger than me, but you're so grown up and mature and you always know what to do. You always have a plan and you know how to talk to people."

Yui shrugged. "I don't know. I've always just known what I wanted, and worked to get it," she said. "Of course, if I have to bail my idiot boyfriend out, _he's_ the one who's going to get it."


	7. Act 1: Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

"Who is Gendo Rokubungi?"

This was the question on everyone's lips, or at least the question on the lips of the people who had to deal with him. And the answer of "a UN special investigator" usually only prompted remarks about how they were being more metaphorical with their query.

Still, the year was 1999 and Gendo Rokubungi seemed to be everywhere. He would show up unannounced with all the proper authorisation. Sometimes there was no record of him entering the country. And then he… did things. What things were, people weren't sure. He'd hand over documents to specific people, or have a quiet word with the manager of a given project, or sometimes just sit in the corner of the room and observe the meeting.

He didn't actually do very much - but he did it very constructively, in a way that left people feeling that things were certainly happening.

And then there was the gut impression that he left in people. When he got bad news or things didn't live up to the UN agreed timetable, he'd just _glare_. And somehow his glare felt like a threat.

Right now he was in South Africa, meeting with the leaders of a mercenary company. These mercenaries were not lightweights. They'd been involved in international incidents all across South America, Africa and the Middle East. That was how they'd appeared on SEELE's radar, as potential assets - or potential threats.

Gendo laid the briefcase on the table. "Consider this a down payment," he said in a flat tone, eyes hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. "$100,000 American, as you requested."

Captain Tenedos of Solutions Expedited opened the briefcase, checking the notes. They were all legitimate tender. SEELE's pockets were deep and its influence wide-reaching. "See, the thing here is," said the mercenary, "you paid up as agreed, on time."

"That was the agreement."

"Well, I think we'd like to reopen negotiations. Your willingness to pay indicates that this job is worth more than you said it was."

Gendo stood there, hands by his side. In the heat, his sweat left a waxy sheen on his features. "Are you breaking the deal?" he asked flatly.

"We're… renegotiating."

"That is not a good idea," Gendo said. "There are other prospective employees." He clicked his fingers. "And our hand is stronger than yours."

"I don't think it is," the captain said with a grin. "I think my hand's a lot stronger than yours is."

"I doubt it."

The captain gestured. "I don't," he said, as his soldiers rose from where they had been concealed. "Now, run on back to the UN, errand boy, and tell them that we're willing to negotiate - and if they don't want the press to know that they've been hiring mercenaries to destabilise nations, they shouldn't send someone in an official capacity. Fortunately, we're open to being hired to… ha ha, preserve such a secret."

Gendo smiled thinly. "You are making a mistake, Mr Tenedos."

"Captain!" the man snapped.

"Mr Tenedos. This was a test of your loyalty. You failed."

* * *

Autumnal leaves painted the trees in red and orange. The air smelt of damp soil, cut grass, and just a hint of cow. The Japanese countryside was beautiful at this time of year, Kozo Fuyutsuki thought, with a hint of melancholy.

Behind him, Yui Ikari - now with her doctorate, completed in near record time - ambled along. She was wrapped up warm, and prepared for the hike the two of them were on. "Oh, sensei," she said fondly. "It's nice to see you again, you know. I haven't seen as much of you since I left university."

He smiled back. "It's good to see you too. Are you enjoying things? What are you up to at the UN Artificial Evolution Laboratory?"

"Oh, it's all very interesting. I'm enjoying it a great deal," Yui said. She hopped onto a low flat rock, balancing before she jumped down again. "It's totally classified, I'm afraid. I can't tell you a thing."

His lips twitched. "You shouldn't let yourself be captured by the military-industrial complex, Yui," he said, chiding her. "Your talents should be used to help mankind, not to enrich wealthy old men."

"Oh, trust me," she said. "It will help mankind."

"I wish I could believe that to be so," he said morosely, kicking up a pile of fallen orange leaves.

"You should!" Yui pouted. "Why don't you come work there, sensei? With your talents - and your reputation - I'm sure we could make use of you!"

"I'm too old and too cynical for something like that," Kozo said. "I'd ask too many awkward questions."

"You're not old, esteemed elder," she said, an impish smile on her lips.

He couldn't help but chuckle. It was good to be spending time with her. He had hoped… but no, enough of that.

"And Gendo's away on a business trip, so I was feeling lonely and thought it was a good chance to catch up with you," she added.

His melancholy returned. Yes. The other barrier in the way of their relationship, the thing he'd found out a year ago. He hadn't known she was involved with… _that man_.

There were rumours about Gendo Rokubungi. Rumours that he had only involved himself with Yui to get close to her undeniable talents and her skills - and her contacts, because he knew his favourite student was a well-connected woman from a very influential family in the Diet. Yui thought herself so clever, but she was young - and while she might have been a genius capable of completing her doctorate at such a young age, Kozo knew for a fact that this didn't mean you were wise in the ways of the world.

He very much feared that the sinister Mr Rokubungi was taking advantage of sweet, young, cocky and slightly too arrogant Yui.

"I still find it hard to think of what you see in him," he said tentatively.

Yui chuckled. "Oh, sensei, he's actually a very gentle man," Yui said blithely. "He just doesn't show that side of himself to other people, and so they remain ignorant of that."

Kozo tried not to harumph. "Well, perhaps that ignorance makes us happy."

"I don't understand why you're like this. When I introduced you to him, did he disturb you?" she said.

"Well, I must admit, he's an interesting man. But I don't like him," Kozo said stubbornly.

He could not help but feel that his Yui was drifting away from him - and there was nothing he could do about it.

"I hope he's enjoying himself," Yui said, a dreamy look in her eyes which hinted of the thoughts she was having about a man that wasn't him.

* * *

"Oh god! Oh god oh god oh god! Everyone's dead! Everyone's dead! Someone stop hi-"

The radio cut off.

Gendo cracked his knuckles, and smiled to himself. It was the honest grin of a man who was doing what he loved.

As far as SEELE was concerned, he had contacts in the mercenary business with access to heavy ordinance. That was how he could so reliably eliminate enemies of the organisation. And if he happened to charge them for hire of his mercenary contacts… well, that money went straight to him. Yui had helped him set up the arrangements for this here on Earth, but the idea had all been his.

After all, it wasn't like the saiyans hadn't sometimes nudged prices up for Lord Frieza. And by 'nudged', he wasn't talking small amounts there. He sincerely hoped that this hadn't been the reason he had gone after their homeworld. It would be such a… petty reason. Not beyond Lord Frieza, of course, but moderately petty even by his standards.

Throwing his hand out, he blew up the fuel depot, and watched in appreciation as a big mushroom cloud of smoke rose.

It was the little moments that really made it all worthwhile. It was cathartic to really get to cut loose occasionally, after all the time spent sitting in meetings being SEELE's running hound. Gritting his teeth, he lifted up a jeep and tossed it at a tent which had miraculously survived the exploding fuel depot.

Yes, he thought, as men screamed all around him, he was starting to get hungry. He'd need to see if he'd already blown up their mess hall when he was done cleaning up. Leaping into the air, he came down in a meteoric impact on someone crawling through the rubble. Gendo hoped he hadn't blown it up. It'd be such a pain to have to fly to the nearest town to get something to eat.

Glancing up at the sky, he noted that he could see the moon. It was a little too full for his liking, and he could feel its malevolent, painful influence. Sunlight helped mitigate it, but he wanted to make sure he got back to Tokyo fast enough that he didn't have any problems. He should skip the search for food, clear up here, and get out of here.

* * *

The Ikari-Rokubungi apartment was a little patch of warmth and light in the chill of October. The blackout curtains were drawn.

"You smell of smoke," Yui remarked as Gendo let himself in. "Also, blood. And guns."

"I know, I know."

"Luckily I suspected that would be the case, so ran you a bath. And there will be food after that."

Gendo smiled at his girlfriend. "You think of everything."

"I certainly hope so." She fended him off with her hands. "Now go. No kisses until you smell less like death. Are you hurt?"

He worked his shoulders, affecting a pitiful expression. "A bit bruised. Someone dropped a grenade when I punched their head off."

"My heart bleeds for you," Yui said fondly. She shooed him off.

After a bath Gendo didn't feel any more human. He did, however, feel more saiyan, and so swaggered through, tail preserving his modesty.

"No towel?" Yui asked, eyebrows fluting up.

He shrugged. "I dried myself off already."

Gendo sat down to eat. For all Yui's other virtues - or at least interesting and enjoyable vices - she was a painfully mediocre cook and tended to live off instant ramen and shop-bought meals whenever possible. She blamed the fact that she had never had to prepare food when growing up, but Gendo personally ascribed it to the fact that she largely considered food to be a way of obtaining energy and nutrients needed to do things she was more interested in. Still, that did mean that she was good at preparing bland food quickly, which was entirely satisfactory for him. He dug into his noodles, while Yui leant on one of the counters, reading a scientific journal.

However, once he had finished, that was revealed to be something of a pretence.

"The committee is impressed with you," Yui said. "They've already got back news of your success in South Africa. I've been told that you are to be inducted into a deeper level of clearance about SEELE. We're going to be going public in the next few years; the UN Artificial Evolution Laboratory is going to be reorganised into GEHIRN."

"Mmm," he said.

"And so… it's time to show you something of what I've been working on." Yui pursed her lips. "But here's where we run into the problem. SEELE is going to insist you're inducted into the secret and trying to avoid the place will get questions asked I don't think we want to answer. And the moon problem is a… problem."

Gendo moved defensively to protect his tail. "You can't cut it off!"

"I realise you consider it to be somewhat central to your self-definition, but it'd just be a little snip and…"

"Just a little snip!" Gendo snapped back. "That's easy for you to say! You don't have one!"

"Yes, you're right," said the woman, "but…"

"You don't know what you're asking! A saiyan with no tail is barely a saiyan!"

"I've been thinking about this," Yui said, lips thin. "I know neither of us want this - I certainly don't! I like a man with a big furry strokable tail! But I think with your natural healing factor, I should be able to amputate and freeze your tail-"

Gendo growled, his lips curling back.

"And," Yui continued, raising a finger, "and this is the important bit - and re-attach it later."

He tensed his jaw.

"Trust me, I'm a scientist," Yui said, trying to reassure him. "I already borrowed the preservation equipment from work and pinned the blame on someone else."

"But..." he said, trailing off.

"Just think about what it'd let you do," Yui said, voice honeyed. "No more blackout curtains. No more having to dash back to avoid nearly half the month. Not having to adjust all your clothing to hide your tail. And it's not like it's useful for you on this world. It just hurts you and makes you feel sick."

Gendo swallowed. "Do you promise you can reattach it?" he asked weakly.

"I promise," Yui said sincerely. "When this is all over, I _want_ you to have a big furry tail. I love it. But I think I know why the moon is, as you put it, 'poisoned' - and things are only going to be worse where we're going. Make sure you bring your scouter."

"Where are we going?"

"What do you know about Hakone?"

* * *

Hakone was a small town built beside a lake, up in the mountains.

"It's not very impressive," Gendo said critically, getting out of Yui's car. Rubbing his hands together he blew on them, trying to warm up in the chill air. His backside ached, though not as much as he might have thought. Everything felt wrong, even if Yui had made a clean job of it. Though it was nice to be able to look up at the moon without feeling uncomfortable.

"No, it's not," Yui said. "That's the point."

The two of them cleared the security checkpoint in the anonymous grey building that was officially a government records storage facility. The decor was bland and beige, but there was a notable lack of paperwork. Instead, they seemed to be storing construction equipment in the basement, beside big cargo lifts.

"Ah, hello Yui," said the security guard at the lift. "I'll need to see ID from both of you, though."

Yui nodded, flashing her card. "How are things, Mr Suzuhara?" she asked.

"Oh, boring as usual. Ah, you're a UN Inspector?" he asked Gendo.

"Yes."

"See quite a few of you around here. Go on down, both of you."

They stepped into the lift, and then it dropped - and not slowly. They descended down ten, twenty, thirty and more metres, falling all the time.

And then they emerged into a vacant, dark space.

"What is this place?" Gendo asked uncomfortably. He could feel the pressure above him, and more pertinently, he could feel the void around him. This was a vast unlit hollow space, and the occasional spotlights which danced over the ink-black walls only served to emphasise the unlit immensity.

"It's only officially known as the Second Facility," Yui said softly. "It was discovered in the 70s."

"Discovered?" he asked.

"Yes. Discovered. It wasn't made by humans. Because 'the Second Facility' isn't what the Dead Sea Scrolls call it." She gazed into the distance, at the dark walls. "They call it the Black Moon."

"This isn't a moon," Gendo pointed out. "It's underground."

"Now it is. Once it wasn't." She stared into his eyes. "This is the thing that hit the planet. This is what formed the moon."

* * *

There was a city of sorts down here, down in the lightlessness of the Black Moon. Looming construction equipment sat on top of concrete slabs, and half-built shafts. Vast mining drills poked out from where they'd been carving tunnels through this place. They were even shipping earth down here, coating the area in the distance in soil.

But their descent didn't stop there. There were more security checkpoints, manned by soldiers from FAUST, and more lifts, heading ever downwards. They only stopped in a well-lit area - and only there because the next security checkpoint insisted that Yui and Gendo change into hazmat suits.

Then they were descending down, down, down. Gendo had long ago lost track of how deep they had to be.

"We know about this place from the Dead Sea Scrolls," Yui said. There was a faint red glow around this lift. Vague organic shapes twisted in the distance. "This is the genesis of all of us. Of all life on Earth." The corner of her mouth tilted up. "Apart from you, that is."

The lift stopped.

"Welcome to Terminal Dogma," Yui said.

They headed through a pair of blast doors, onto a gantry that overlooked… something.

"What is that?" Gendo breathed.

"Here she is," Yui said, staring down at the enormous pale shape. "The progenitor of my species. The Second Angel. We call her 'Lilith'."

Gendo took in the sight below him. The Lilith being was monstrous in its immensity; larger than even a Great Ape. White flesh bulged in squirming mounds. It was hammered to a cross of strange red metal with nails, each one larger than a car. Lilith was shaped something like a human - two arms, two legs, and a colossal head that wore a seven eyed mask.

He now knew where SEELE's insignia came from.

And there was a dreadful inconstancy to the surface of the creature, as if there was something trying to escape from it. But all that came out was a strange red-orange ooze that might have been sweat and might have been blood, which pooled at its feet.

The saiyan warrior swallowed, feeling very, very small indeed.

"Gendo," Yui asked. "What does the scouter say about its power level?"

"…I don't know," he said, breaths coming fast and shallow.

"You don't know?"

"It's crashed." He shifted uncomfortably within his biohazard suit, trying to adjust the sit of his eyepiece. "And it's got hot. I can smell burning plastic in here."

Yui was silent for a long moment. "Is that a thing they do? What numbers do they work up to?"

"I don't know!" Gendo gasped, trying not to hyperventilate and failing. "I didn't read the manual and I am far too scared to remember if anyone ever told me! But that thing could… could crush me like a bug. Without even noticing."

Yui squeezed his hand silently, trying her best to be reassuring. It was not very effective.

He swallowed, throat feeling taut. "Yui," he said. "Why don't we just… just get off this planet? We could go find another world and take over a country or something. I'm sure there has to be somewhere where we wouldn't have to be sharing the same planet with a thing like this."

She turned to him. "Because Lilith is power, my love," she said. "Power, ripe for the taking. Power that we will snatch from a trapped god. Humans were never meant to be fragmented, weak beings. You said it yourself. You thought one of my ancestors had divided their power down too much. Well, there are myths and legends of past times when men were mightier than today. Stories of gods." Her hands balled into fists. "SEELE will see those times again."

"So this is what you're working on?"

"Not quite. Not quite. But close. Imagine a synthetic organism, a copy of this thing, chained by machinery and cybernetics. Something a human could control." Yui reached down over the gantry, as if she could snatch up the pale shape. "Something I will control. Something I will _need_ to control."

"Need?" Gendo echoed.

Yui glanced back at him. The pale shape of Lilith reflected off the transparent mask of her biohazard suit. "She's not the only creature like this on this world," she said. "There is another. The First Angel. Adam. And his children will come, before the end."


	8. Act 1: Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel. Gendo Rokubungi stepped out of his heavy transport craft and wrapped himself up in his coat tighter. He shivered, looking up at the green number "1" projected on the clouds above him.

It had been three years since his arrival on Earth, and since he had come here he had never been anywhere so inhospitable. Or so cold.

"Welcome to the First Facility, located in Antarctica," his pilot announced. "It is 16:32 local time, on the tenth of September, 2000, and it is a cool thirty below freezing. Wrap up warm! We'll start unloading the device as soon as these idiots give us a bay to take it."

Gendo adjusted his glasses, checking the read-out projected on the inside. At least they were working. His scouter had fried when he'd tried to scan Lilith, but Yui had worked wonders with local technology and had managed to build a working replacement with things 'borrowed' from SEELE. Inferior local materials meant he needed two projection lenses rather than one and the screens were a murky orange rather than the clean green he was used to, but he was glad for what she had managed. He had felt naked without it.

As an added benefit, she said it would simply cut out rather than melt if exposed to too much power. He was going to be putting this to the test.

A flurry of snow blew cold wetness down the back of his neck, and he shivered. They had built structures in Antarctica here, but these prefabricated structures were mere human structures that intruded on the vastness of this white expanse. This white expanse which formed a great dome.

Gendo shifted nervously on his toes. He didn't like the idea that he was standing on the White Moon, buried under an all-too-thin layer of ice and snow.

"Ah, Mr Rokubungi! The man from the UN, yes?"

"Dr Katsuragi?" Gendo checked.

"Hideaki Katsuragi, at your service. Come on, man! Get inside! If it was freezing out here, it'd be a balmy summer day!"

* * *

Gendo gratefully accepted a hot chocolate, and wrapped his hands around the mug. He sipped at it slowly. His face was freezing. If only he'd grown a beard, it might not be so cold.

Dr Katsuragi had stripped off his outer layers to reveal a man with a boyish face, but greying hair that belied his true age. And he talked. A lot.

"It's just wonderful to have you here as a UN observer for the upcoming contact experiment," the man said happily. "I believe that we're going to get a lot of data on the nature of this entity - and possibly even on the spear-like containment device you brought back with you from the Dead Sea labs! Some of my team were spreading some alarming concerns about what would happen because we removed it from the creature."

Gendo knew more than Dr Katsuragi, for all that the man was running this base. The man was a dupe. Yui said that he was only in charge here because of an internal political clash in SEELE and Gendo could believe it. He was such an obvious compromise candidate that everyone had to know it. Except for, apparently, Dr Katsuragi himself.

Loud thudding music started up in the background, and Gendo twitched slightly in annoyance.

"Do you have any data from the Dead Sea? I'd love to see it! See it, ha ha. But seriously, it could be revolutionary. We're working on refining super-solenoid theory, and let me tell you, the N2-yields of the super-solenoid derivatives we're theorising is just fabulous! The specimen appears to be a nearly endless supply of power! Believe it or not, but we're actually running much of the base on it! Using it as a battery, ah ha! But then again, I'm making it sound much easier than it really is. It was certainly a pronounced challenge to manage it, but really how we achieved it is just a testament to my skills - and the skills of my team, of course!"

Gendo stared flatly. "The data from the Dead Sea is classified," he said.

"Ah ha, ha ha, yes, that's to be expected. Much to be expected, yes, yes. But we're still making progess without it. The Dead Sea might not share all their research with us, but we can progress without it. What do you know about non-Newtonian interactions of crystalline amorphous polysubstrate lattices?"

"Very little. It's not my field of speciality."

"Well, let me explain it to you! You see, the peculiar red crystalline substance is in fact an amorphous lattice which is simultaneously structured and unstructured," Dr Katsuragi said, raising his voice to try to drown out the music. "But! You see! Are you at all familiar with the idea of particles that can both be waves and particles at the same time?"

"I…"

"It works nothing like that at all! Some people try to claim it does, but no, that means they don't understand the field! It's just a metaphor! But a useful one!" the other man shouted. And…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry," Dr Katsuragi said, pinching his brow. "Just give me a moment." He rose, and opened the door to the next room, where the music was coming from. "Misato, sweetie, could you please turn down the music?"

"No," a girl replied. "I'm listening to it. Duh!"

"I know, but I'm trying to work here, so…"

"So go find somewhere else! I'm stuck here in this stupid cold place so I'm not going to turn off my music so you can go lame it up doing your stuff."

"Misato, you're not being cooperative. Can't you at least turn it down?"

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry," the girl said with thick sarcasm. "Clearly you've just got so _rubbish_ taste that you don't appreciate _good_ music."

"It's not that I don't like your music, but it's just a little loud and…"

"Fine! Fine! You're just… you're just bullying me and I hate this place and I hate you!" The music stopped and a teenage girl entered. She had deep purple hair, was wearing a black t-shirt with a skull on it, and more pertinently had a death glare that she directed at her father and at Gendo. "I hate you both!" she declared loudly, and stormed out.

"Uh…" Gendo began.

"My daughter," Dr Katsuragi said apologetically, playing with the silver cross that hung from his neck. "She's here because I get her for some of the holidays. I had hoped she would learn to appreciate science, but… uh, that's not turning out well. She doesn't want to be here and she's being… ah, quite vocal about it. Sorry about that. You don't know how hard it is, being the parent of a fourteen year old who hates you."

"No, I don't," Gendo said, "and thank goodness for that." At least it was quieter. "The thing I need from you right now is for you to sign for receipt of the Lance," he said, passing over a clipboard.

"Ah, of course, the UN wants a paper trail," Dr Katsuragi said, signing and passing the clipboard back to Gendo. "Seriously, who names these things? It's not a lance. It's really more of a bident."

"That's classified," Gendo said, who also didn't know.

"Now, come on. On the itinerary, you're also down for inspecting the specimen, yes?"

"Yes."

"Well, right this way, then! If it helps, it's warmer down there!"

* * *

Gendo Rokubungi was very, very, very glad that he had gone to the toilet on the plane. If he had been travelling in a saiyan pod, he would not have been able to do so. And then he would be needing clean underwear right now.

"This is the subject," Dr Katsuragi said proudly. "We call it Subject One. Although one of the guys did call it 'Adam' when they thought I couldn't hear. Those kidders, eh? Giving our test subjects nicknames."

Unlike Lilith, Adam glowed. A cold white light shone up from the pit the creature was contained in. Squinting down, he could make up a vaguely humanoid shape curled up in a foetal position. If there were eyes, they were either closed or glowed like the rest of the creature. There was a hint of red down there, too, but the brightness made it nearly impossible to see.

Gendo removed his glasses, which had whited out entirely and which felt rather hot. Well, Yui had tried her best, and at least it hadn't caught fire.

"When Subject One was originally discovered," Dr Katsuragi prattled on, "it was much, much smaller. Since we removed the… ahem, Lance, it's grown significantly. We're fascinated to think of what might happen when it's reinserted. There were all kinds of interesting signals coming from the Lance when it was taken out, but, ah! Will the signals be the same, or different? And on top of that..."

Gendo merely grunted, glaring down at the thing. The white light seemed so simple, he could nearly forget that this thing was powerful enough that his jury-rigged Earth-made scouter had shut down entirely.

What he was about to do was perhaps very, very foolish. But Yui had a plan. He had his part to play in it.

"... of course, this sphere has been here for at least three billion years! Three billion years, can you believe it? It must be alien in origin! There's no way that life on earth could have evolved to construct something like this, especially when the depth of time…"

Gendo checked his watch. The time was counting down.

"... and of course, the technological sophistication required to engineer something like this is beyond belief! I can't imagine the knowledge of these beings! So vast! So glorious! Indeed, I think that…"

Any time soon. Please.

"... with a whole pig!" Dr Katsuragi's phone rang. "Sorry," he said, answering. "What do you mean, the links are down? We've lost secure TM and TC connections to all satellites? Well, get on the phone to Tokyo! Ask them to check their end!" He shook his head. "We seem to have just lost all telecommunications links. I can't think what must have happened. I hope there's not a storm coming. Let me just see what's going on and whether we can get Tokyo on the line."

* * *

Tokyo was not a happy place. And as the head of the computing division, Naoko Akagi was the least happy person present. They'd just lost all telecommunications links with the First Facility, and now a lot of very important people were blaming her. But it wasn't a software problem! She was sure of it!

It had to be hardware. Kicking off her heels, she sprinted down into the WIZARD segment.

It was a hardware fault. It looked like there had been a RAID array failure, and that the reason that the RAID array had failed was that it was on fire.

"What happened in here?" Naoko screamed. "Why have we just lost all telecommunications? Why is everything on fire!"

Coughing, a figure in a pink jumper and mismatched socks stumbled out of the chaos.

"I'm so sorry!" moaned Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu. "I just tripped over the plug here and it sort of came out! And then I tried to pull myself up and then these servers sort of fell over! And then they fell into each other and things sort of dominoed! And then they fell into the big squishy brain thing and it sort of went splat! And then I dropped the plug and it landed on the brain gloop and it might have sort of caught fire!"

"What caught fire?" Naoko said faintly, desperately looking for where the fire extinguishers were. They were apparently buried under fallen server racks.

"Uh… the plug. And also the brain gloop."

"The organic biomatter in the WIZARD isn't even flammable!"

"Ah, but that means it's inflammable, and inflammable things can be set on fire," Kyoko said wisely.

Naoko stared at her in absolute horror. "That's stupid. You're stupid. Stop being stupid!"

"But if it's not inflammable, why is it on fire?" Kyoko asked.

"What the _hell_ are you doing in here? You know you shouldn't be let near anything breakable!" Naoko snapped, giving up on trying to punch through the fog of Kyoko's brain.

"Well, I was looking for where I'd left my pen, and Yui said she'd seen a pen in the server room so I thought it might have been m-"

"Ikaaaaaaaaaaaaaari!"

* * *

Well. Whatever Yui had done, Gendo had his distraction.

No one was watching him, and everything was in disarray. He squared his jaw, took several breaths, and plucked up his courage. And then he leapt over the handrail, down into the pit.

Up close, the scale of the Adam being was terrifying. Even if he had his tail, it'd be bigger than him. But all he needed to do was grab the sample that Yui wanted. Pulling out a diamond-edged scalpel from an inside pocket, he stabbed at the glowing white flesh. He just needed a little blood. But he had no luck. Adam's flesh was harder than rock; harder than diamond.

"Come on, you useless thing," he muttered to the blade. "Cut! Cut!"

But the blade merely chipped and shattered.

"Damn it all," Gendo muttered through clenched teeth. Perhaps the fact that he was so terrified he was acting purely on saiyan instinct might have explained what he did next. It wasn't exactly unusual behaviour for his species.

He stuck out his hand palm first at point-blank range, white-glowing energy ball already glowing.

"Heavy Hammer" he roared.

He was then hit by a crippling realisation of what he had just done. And also the wall behind him. Blinking, he sat up, head swimming. Something orange and hexagonal had slammed him back, hard enough that if he'd been a mere human he'd have been jam. His back was going to be one solid bruise.

Pulling himself to his feet, he staggered forwards. Red blood was welling up from within that body of light, oozing from the tiniest graze he'd given it. The creature hadn't otherwise moved.

"Yeah," he slurred. "You betta' run." Staggering forwards, he dabbed at the blood with the swab Yui had provided, and then sealed it in the small lead-lined specimen jar that was hidden in his belt buckle.

Well. Ow. That was done. Now, time to get the handover of the Lance finished and get out of here. Things would go badly for him of he was caught with this. Yui better appreciate his present, he thought as he leapt back out of the containment pit in the guts of the White Moon.

* * *

It was the thirteenth of September, and Gendo was back in Tokyo.

"I love it!" Yui squealed, leaping into Gendo's arms and mashing her lips to his. Her eyes sparkled with glee; every motion was vivacious. "My very own stolen sample of blood from the First Angel!"

"I'm not doing that again," he said firmly. "It lashed out, even in its dormancy."

"I don't expect you to! Oh, Gendo! It's wonderful!" Detaching from him, she spread her arms, spinning in a circle as if trying to embrace all the power in the world. "Daddy and the other old men have been getting in the way of my research. They're keeping us away from samples of the First Angel - they say we should be focussing on the Second Angel; that it's _more human_. But I know the Dead Sea team has been working on Adam. They're lying to me there, I just know it."

Gendo gestured at her to continue. He was smiling broadly. He loved to see her so happy - it made the fact his back felt like it had been used as a punching bag worth it.

"The secrets of the S2 Organ are locked away in this! Lilith doesn't have one - not in the same sense that Adam does! And of course, humans don't have them either! I think your species has something similar, but I've been unable to research it properly without giving things away - and yours certainly doesn't take the form of a red core, but your energy certainly comes from _something_ \- and it's not from your food!"

"Is it safe?" he asked.

"Well, not really," she said gleefully. "Anything which involves unlocking limitless energy isn't safe. But all power involves some risks. And super-solenoid theory is so barebones at the moment that the problem isn't the dangers, the problem is doing anything at all. That's what Dr Katsuragi's contact experience is supposed to help with, but I have my doubts it'll do anything at all. Ha! I doubt Daddy and the old men would let him carry it out if it was going to do something useful apart from further contain Adam."

"What are you going to do with it?"

By this point Yui was getting a little giddy from her spinning, so chose to collapse into his arms again. "I think I can use this. The old men are trying to keep my team away from the S2 Organ, I think. But I need it for myself." She gave him another kiss. "And you're so wonderful and perfect to get it for me. Most people don't have boyfriends anywhere near as attentive. I know we've both been busy lately."

"Too busy," he said sadly.

"And I knew you were coming back today," she added.

"That was the plan."

"Gendo," Yui whispered into his ears, "I'm not wearing any underwear."

* * *

Dr Katsuragi faced the holographic figures of the Human Instrumentality Committee. Static lines wavered over their figures.

"Oh, don't worry," he said confidently. "We're not like the Dead Sea laboratories. Trust me, the Katsuragi Expedition is going to go down in history. The outage of the telemetry links won't affect our progress and we didn't need support from the Second Facility anyway. The fact that they're running around like headless chickens doesn't affect _us_."

"That is good," said Keel Lorenz, chair of the Human Instrumentality Committee. "Is everything ready for the Contact Experiment, Katsuragi?"

"Of course, Lorenz! We were always going to be ready! I am sure that we will completely validate my theories on super-solenoids! Endless power will fuel the cities of the future, entirely run by the - dare I say it! - Katsuragi process." He postured. "That is my dream and I will see it through."

"We are behind you, one hundred percent of the way," said Chariman Lorenz. "We wish you all the best, and hope that things go exactly as planned."

"No need to hope! I'll make sure of it!"

"We're sure you will. That is all, Katsuragi."

"Thank you, sir!"

The link was cut.

The Human Instrumentality Committee looked at each other. They were wondering who was going to say it first.

"God, what a bloody tit," the British representative said, breaking the silence.

"Oh yes, completely and utterly."

"That's the first time I've ever had to talk to him. I don't envy you."

Keel Lorenz shook his head sadly. "What a fool. He's so caught up in his dogma, he's utterly detached from reality. He seeks only satisfaction from the joy of discovery - and the control that comes from it." The old man folded his hands in front of him. "Gentlemen. There is no turning back. The Chamber of Guf is emptying and the end of the world comes. What happens today had to always happen. We initiate it so that we might guide it, for it cannot be averted."

* * *

"Oh… _yes_." Yui's voice rose. "Yes!"

Two bodies writhed in the Tokyo night. Two lonely bodies - one isolated by ambition and intellect, one alone on a foreign world. Two lonely souls, reaching out across the boundary of species. What cruelty is love, that traps two people in such an orbit? What blessing is love, that two might find union and oneness in a moment's peace? What beauty? What terror? As Rainer Maria Rilke once wrote, "For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, that we are still able to bear, and we revere it so, because it calmly disdains to destroy us. Every Angel is terror."

Two voices cried out - one, a fractured angel; the other, a rising ape.

"Did the earth just move for you too?" Gendo asked, cuddling her close.

And then they noticed the false daylight, bleeding in through the curtains. Yui rushed to the window. Light burned in the sky. The angular inclination of the world shifted. Four great wings enveloped this singular world, one among many.


	9. Act 1: Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Behind every man now alive stood thirty-five ghosts, for that was the ratio by which the dead outnumbered the living.

There were twice as many ghosts as there had been last September.

They were calling it Second Impact. The story was that a tiny meteor, travelling at nearly the speed of light, had hit Antarctica. That collision had released more energy than the impact which had killed the dinosaurs. The angular inclination of the Earth had shifted. The pole had melted. Tokyo had flooded as tsunamis rolled up from the south and Japan now sweltered in an endless summer.

That story was a lie. But the effects of that terrible experiment of Dr Katsuragi were all too real. And then man had turned on man. The nuclear weapons had flown, and India and Pakistan had scourged each other. Tokyo had been destroyed by a smuggled nuclear weapon. The Impact Wars had killed just as many as the impact.

Gendo had not been particularly concerned, about that, all things considered. When you'd technically participated in a saiyan planetary invasion - albeit in a decidedly rear-echelon position - some things were not really all that shocking. Giant fireballs destroying cities occurred on a day ending in a "-y" when General Nappa was in the area and entertaining himself. Why, the humans here should be lucky that no giant humanoids had been stalking through their cities blowing things up with energy blasts.

He'd just been careful to keep her safe, and had found an apartment in a small town well away from any major urban centres which might be the targets of nuclear attack. A large bomb might kill him, and even a small one would hurt Yui, even if she wasn't that close to it. That could not be tolerated.

On the other hand, Yui hadn't taken things so well. She'd been pale and fearful, even once he'd gotten her out of Tokyo. She'd been fretting and uncertain, scared by the calamity that had struck the world. She'd even expressed vocal doubt about her research and whether it was the right thing to do - and whether it might have in some way led to Second Impact. She seemed to be taking things hard.

And now she was throwing up most mornings, on top of everything else. He hoped she'd pull herself back together soon.

"Gendo," Yui said, brooding over the paper. It showed the latest reports of the India-Pakistan war. "Do you wonder why we're doing this? All of this? All this conspiring, I mean."

He looked blankly back at her. "No. We're doing this so you can get cloned saiyans and we can have an army of soldiers who'll conquer this world and save my species."

She looked both fond and annoyed. "Of course, you have a somewhat different viewpoint." She sighed. "I think your viewpoint is better than mine. Better than the one I used to have, I mean. I'm not sure I have it anymore."

Gendo paused, his spoon halfway to his mouth. "What?"

"I think… I think my father's plans are wrong. I don't know if they'll work anymore… and I don't know if I want them to work," she said, each word dragged out of her.

"What?" He was getting worried now.

"The blood sample from Adam. There were anomalies. It was… it was much more active than Lilith's blood," Yui said reluctantly. "And it was obvious. I… don't know if you made it worse, but even if you did, it was already unsafe. We would have known if we'd been allowed to access the samples from the First Angel. But SEELE were stopping us - Tokyo lab us, that is. But the Dead Sea lab must have known. And they ordered the Lance removed, only to be returned for the Contact Experiment."

Yui looked him in the eye, gaze hesitant and flinching. "My father must have known. The Committee must have known. They must have planned Second Impact."

Gendo blinked. "You don't know?" he asked. "I thought you knew-"

"Ha! Far from it. I'm too young… and too female, I suspect… to be _that_ senior in SEELE," Yui said blackly. "I knew that the Dead Sea Scrolls foretold a great disaster, but I thought it would be Adam waking up on his own. Something we couldn't avoid. But… the old men induced this." She laughed bitterly. "Probably _because_ they're old men. They want the ascension to come in their own lifetimes. Rather than at the _right_ time. We could be _ready_ \- but no, those selfish bastards have gone off half-cocked."

"What are you saying?"

"Damn the old men, Gendo!" Yui's eyes were suddenly alive, flashing with anger. "Their ascension comes at too high a price! I want to rule the world, but there has to be a world to rule! I want to become a god, but that means I need subjects! I want power, but power needs a purpose!" She clasped his hands. "And… their ascension isn't something I want! Not any more! Not when it'd mean I'd lose you! Bugger instrumentality if it'd mean what fragment of me remained had to spend eternity without you!"

Gendo nodded. "Yui," he said softly. "I could just kill them all."

"Tempting," Yui said. "Very tempting. But unfortunately, those old men have already started the timer. The children of Adam are coming - and SEELE are the only people who can prepare the defence. They need the Angels dead as part of their ritual."

He cracked his knuckles. "So. I kill them later."

"The solution isn't always killing." Yui paused. "I mean, yes, it is in this specific case, but I just wanted to make that point. But yes. They die… later. And we snatch their thrones out from under them. And rule this world as king and queen."

Gendo nodded. He liked the sound of this.

"And," Yui added, suddenly nervous again, "... there's another reason for me to doubt their great plan. Gendo. I'm… I'm pregnant. And what if the child takes more after you than-"

"... what?" His mind locked up, and all he could do was stare at them blankly.

"I said, I'm pregnant."

Mechanically, stiffly, Gendo made his way to the window and slid it open. "Excuse me a moment," he said, stepping out of the third storey window.

* * *

"... reports are coming in of catastrophic fires sweeping over Indonesia - no doubt another consequence of Second Impact. We now go live to-"

"I'm back," a soot blackened Gendo said, climbing in the window.

"You were gone five hours!"

"I had a lot of feelings I needed to vent." Gendo paused. "Now, where were we? What do you mean, you're pregnant? How did that happen?"

Yui blinked. "The normal way! We've certainly been doing all the right things!" She swallowed. "And… I thought we weren't biologically compatible, but… well. Apparently I was wrong," she said.

"But… but…" Gendo's mind was running in circles. "You're so weak. And human. And not a saiyan. I didn't… how? How?"

"I don't know," Yui said, running her hands through her hair. "I honestly don't know. And you know how much I hate having to say that."

His mind refused to accept it. He'd had his hopes set on the idea of cloning - but he could _breed_ with a human? "But it's been years," he tried to argue. "And it hadn't happened!"

"Really, trust me. I was shocked. I have no idea why it's happened now. From the time, it must have been around Second Impact. Maybe even the night of it," Yui said. "But… look, there's pretty clear evolutionary evidence that humans have evolved to be worse at having children."

"Huh?" That made no sense, and he said as much.

"Hah, yes," Yui said, eyes suddenly interested. "Given how tough you are, I suspect female saiyans never had a problem with childbirth. For humans, it's very risky. Motherhood is… well, biologically speaking, the uterus is actually one of the least hospitable places for a developing…"

He didn't want to be a father. He had everything planned out. He and Yui would seize power with their clone legion, and then they'd spread out. They'd find the other saiyans out there, and he'd be able to continue his species. There was no space for a half-breed in that plan.

"... and then the progesterone produced by the placenta enters the mother's bloodstream, altering it to prevent the foetal rejection, so effectively the child is controlling the mother to…"

What did he do? What could he do? Yui was acting all erratic, doubting SEELE's plan. Things were no longer steady. The path seemed unclear.

"... and that's before I get into the other changes to the mother's body that are very expensive and not safe! So yes. There's a good chance that… well, we just got lucky beforehand and any pregnancies auto-terminated before I even noticed I was pregnant. Or it might have been something to do with Second Impact. Or your exposure to Adam. I'd just discounted the possibility before because it seemed too ridiculous. But it's not."

Gendo paid attention once again to his lover recounting all the ways that humans had apparently a reproductive system that seemed evolved for a different species - perhaps one that got stronger every time it nearly died. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"Well, I'll find a doctor I can get plenty of blackmail material on to handle the check-ups and the birth," Yui said, with false casualness. "Goodness knows I can't go to someone who might blab to SEELE about any deformities our xenohybrid offspring might have. And I'll need to conduct my own research. Humans can't breed with chimps and they're our closest relatives! Why could I get pregnant from a space monkey man? How does the biology work? Oh, this is a little bit fascinating!"

"Is that what you're thinking about? Now?" Gendo said, numb horror in his voice.

"Of course!"

"Are you sure it's mine?"

"Well, it's either yours, or I'm the mother of the central figure of a new religion having immaculately conceived the messiah. You're the more plausible answer. Barely." Yui shrugged. "I'm more than willing to accept either result."

"Be serious!"

"I am entirely serious!"

* * *

The Human Instrumentality Committee were meeting.

"The Tokyo-3 initiative is in the Diet at the moment," said Mitsuhide Ikari, hands folded in front of him. "It will pass. In this time of national grief for the tragic destruction of Tokyo, the Diet likes the idea of a fortress city impregnable to outside attack."

"Excellent," said Dr Hood, nodding. "Then everything goes according to the scenario."

"According to the scenario," the rest of the Committee chorused.

"Keep us updated," Keel Lorenz said, peering at the other holograms through his cybernetic visor. He shuffled his papers. "In other news, our spies report that Yui Ikari has been purchasing maternity bras, a cot, and '101 Baby Names'. Intelligence analysts believe that she is pregnant, though a minority report opines she may be doing it to test our watchers on her."

The elder Ikari ground his teeth together. "Yes," he said grimly. "Yes, so I hear. I am… overjoyed."

"Congratulations," Keel Lorenz told him.

"I personally do not feel it is anything to be congratulated about," he said.

"I agree," Dr Hood said. "How will her maternity leave affect the timetable?"

"I believe we can mitigate it," Keel Lorenz said. "All shall proceed according to the scenario."

"According to the scenario," chorused the Human Instrumentality Committee.

* * *

Mumbai and Islamabad were irradiated craters - and yet they were still fighting in the Kashmir valley.

Sitting on a hilltop, Gerabanzo watched the clash between two scattered forces of light infantry supported by armour, and sighed. He was feeling very Gerabanzo today. He hadn't felt like this in years. He had got used to being Gendo. Gendo Rokubungi wasn't a low class warrior who'd been a fool and signed up for the Recon Corps. He was a powerful man, working for an influential conspiracy. He had a comfortable life with lots of good food and very little time spent in a cramped pod travelling from world to world with no room to stretch his legs.

Oh, and of course, an alien lover who was also a super-intelligent scientist with ambitions of world domination. He'd never have ever thought he would be lucky enough for that. The Recon Corps was not good for meeting women. Yui's only flaw was that she wasn't a saiyan.

Except now she was pregnant. With what she assured him was his child. But this didn't make any sense. He'd never heard of a saiyan half-breed. You got some other aliens that could breed with each other, but… surely not the saiyans! Not with this pathetic race that was running around below him in the valley, trying to kill each other with bits of not-very-fast-moving metal.

Was this his child? Really?

Gerabanzo snarled and began firing energy blasts down at both sides indiscriminately. It wasn't even enjoyable. Amusing, yes, as they ran around screaming and panicking, but not really enjoyable. This wasn't a challenge. He pounced on a tank, tearing off its turret and laying into people with it.

Not even hitting someone into a mountainside produced more than a momentary satisfaction.

Splattered with blood, he tossed the tank turret away, tossing energy blasts over his shoulder without looking. These humans went looking to kill each other. They were willing to die. It didn't make a difference if he did it or they did it to each other.

Kicking off, he leapt into the air, strafing a bridge and sending the armoured vehicles on it down into the water.

Damn it. Damn it all.

He had to trust Yui. He had to. Because if he couldn't trust her about this, what else couldn't he trust her about? He'd never get his clone army!

Anyway. He'd know. He'd never smelt another man on her, so he didn't have any grounds for suspicion there. If it truly was his child, then saiyan strength would show through! They would be far more than a pathetic human! And if he truly could have children with Yui… Gendo smiled to himself. Things would be much, much better than he could have hoped.

So much better.

* * *

Time passed, and Yui swelled up. Motherhood was meant to make people radiant and glowing, but in truth, by March she was just ill-tempered.

Chewing on the end of her pen, Yui glared at the screen in front of her as if daring it to disagree with her. She was not in a good mood. She wasn't sleeping well, and she felt fat and bloated and nauseous. In fact, she felt like a blimp.

And, worse, the moonlight was making her itch and the child started kicking even more at such times, which didn't help her mood. She'd excused herself from any visits to Hakone, on the grounds that no one was sure what the effects of pre-natal exposure to Lilith would be. She didn't know, though the thought did occasionally keep her up at night vis a vis 'the child's transformation into a giant monkey while inside her'.

But she couldn't spend all her time fretting about that. She had work to do. The Committee had made it entirely clear that she was expected to make sure she was ahead of schedule before she went on maternity leave, which meant she'd been pulling overtime for months now.

And things were progressing. She looked over the schematics for the progressive cutting machine that they would use to bisect Lilith, and the reports from the Chinese construction company that was working on it. The ETA for completion was still a year in the future, but it was taking shape, piece by piece.

There came a soft, hesitant knock at her door, along with the clatter of a dropped handbag. Yui sighed.

"Come in, Kyoko," she said, massaging her temples.

The other woman stepped in and then slammed the the door behind her. Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's eyes were reddened, and she had a soggy tissue in her hand. Even by her standards, her clothes were a mess and she was missing one shoe.

"What's the problem?" Yui asked, eyes widening in surprise.

Shaking, Kyoko sat down in front of her, sniffling. "Y-you're my best friend," she began.

"Of course," Yui lied.

"I need your help. I really, really need it. I think I'm pregnant," Kyoko said in a tiny voice. "And I know you are and… and I need your help. You have to know what to do. _Please_."

Oh. Oh dear. Yui declined to make any remark about the other woman's unsuitability for breeding, but she did think it rather hard. "What makes you think that?" she asked.

"I-I-I've missed three… you know, _thingies_ …"

"Periods?" Yui asked.

"Yes," Kyoko said, blushing. "And I'm p-putting on weight. And a pregnancy test c-came back positive."

That was a fairly suggestive set of evidence, Yui had to agree. "Well, congratulations," she said.

"I can't be a m-mother," Kyoko blurted out. "I can't even look after m-myself! Wh-what if I… I dr-dropped them or… or…"

Well, someone had needed to say it, and Yui was glad that it had been Kyoko. "Well, there are… alternatives," she hinted.

"No," Kyoko said, squaring her jaw. "There aren't."

"There are," Yui said kindly.

"There aren't. I'm Catholic."

"Ah." Yui forced herself to smile. "Well, I'm sure you'll be a wonderful mother," she lied. "After all, don't you have your husband to help you?"

"Well… yes… but…" Kyoko dabbed at her eyes, looking painfully uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?"

"I don't understand how it happened," Kyoko said plaintively. "He said it was one of his safe days."

Yui opened her mouth.

Yui closed her mouth.

"Kyoko," she said kindly. "Can you please repeat that?"

"Pieter said it was one of his safe days. You know, one of the days where there's no risk of pregnancy."

"Two things. Firstly, that's not a reliable means of contraceptive practice," Yui said, trying to resist the urge to bash Kyoko's head into a wall. "Always use hormonal or barrier contraceptives if you want to avoid becoming pregnant."

"Oh."

"But more pertinently," Yui continued, in the same level voice, "men don't have 'safe days'."

"They don't?"

"They don't. _Why_ did you think they did?"

"Well, I just assumed that since we do…" Kyoko began.

"You're a genius in multiple scientific disciplines. How could you _not know this_?"

"I went to an all-girls Catholic school," Kyoko said in a voice more appropriate to a mouse than a grown woman. "And my mother never wanted me associating with boys."

"I… I see," Yui said. For once, she was lost for words. For goodness sake, _her_ parents had intimidated or assassinated every boyfriend she'd picked out for herself before she met Gendo, and _she_ hadn't had any problems with this. Anyone in a relationship with Kyoko should probably be investigated, because they had to be taking advantage of her herness. "Well, I'll tell you what. I'll put you in contact with my gynocologist. And help you file your maternity leave request."

Kyoko wrapped her up in a snotty, wet embrace. "Oh, Yui," she sobbed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so lucky I know you! Oh, and the children will probably be in the same school year and they'll do everything together and they'll be best friends just like us! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes," Yui said, with a rigid smile. "Just wonderful. Yes."

* * *

Naoko Akagi glared at Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu's filed report for maternity leave. It wasn't in her handwriting. She could tell, because the ink colour in use wasn't pink and the 'i's hadn't been dotted with hearts. Also, the words stayed between the lines, everything was spelt correctly, and it was all legal and correct.

Instead, it was ruthlessly precise, incredibly neat, and the sort of handwriting used by someone who had come from a very wealthy family with a lot of personal tutors.

A muscle started to twitch under her left eye. The project was going to be losing _two_ of its best researchers to maternity leave. They were working together to ruin her. She knew it. Young women and their unprotected sex and their _complete failure to realise how important this was_.

She was going to kill her someday. Oh yes. Naoko was going to kill that smug maternity-leave taking bitch someday.

"Ikaaaaaaaaaari," she whispered, squeezing her stress ball with both hands.

* * *

It might have made Naoko feel slightly better to know that things were disharmonious in the Ikari-Rokbungi household.

It would probably have not made her feel any better if she had then found they were arguing about baby names. The sonograms had been… inconclusive… as to the child's sex, which meant there were twice as many names to argue about. It was either a very feminine boy, or a masculine girl.

"For the last time, I'm not calling any son of mine... _that_!"

"He's my son as much as yours!" Gendo retorted.

That only produced an laser-intensity glare from Yui. "You get an equal say in what to name the child when you put an equal amount of effort in! And you don't have them crushing your internal organs!"

"But what's wrong with it? Kakarot is a proud, strong traditional saiyan name! If the child is a boy, he should be glad to have such a name!"

"It sounds utterly ridiculous," Yui said, folding her arms. "It'll draw attention at school and everyone will make fun of him for it."

"Why?"

"I would have made fun of someone with such a name," Yui said firmly. Her eyes crossed. "And _now_ they're kicking me," she complained. "This happens whenever we argue! Ow. Ow. Stop that, damn you."

Gendo perked up. "Ah! Mark of a good strong saiyan!"

"I'll mark you if you keep that up!" Yui said, staggering to somewhere to sit.

"No you won't. You're not strong enough for that."

"So help me _I will find a way_ ," Yui snapped. "I am sure no one else has a baby that kicks that hard! They said it was meant to feel like butterflies in my tummy! Not like they're trying to use my ribs as a percussion instrument." She yanked up her t-shirt. "Look!"

Gendo looked. "I don't see anything," he said.

"Well, of _course_ they choose to stop now," she grumbled.

Approaching her, Gendo cuddled up to his grouchy pregnant girlfriend. "I'm sure it really hurt," he said. "After all, a saiyan baby will be stronger than you."

"That means nappies are your duty," she said quickly. "I can't wrestle a baby and change a nappy at the same time."

Curses. "And what about girl names?" he asked.

"I like 'Kongou'," Yui suggested. "It would honour her saiyan heritage too."

"How on earth would it do that?" Gendo retorted. "How could any saiyan…"

"Half-saiyan!"

"... or half-saiyan take herself seriously with a name like that!"

Yui groaned. "No, please. Don't start this again."

He sighed. Yes. This argument wasn't going anywhere. "How about a compromise?" Gendo suggested. "How about you get to pick the name for a boy, and I get to pick the name for a girl?"

Yui narrowed her eyes, then relaxed. "Fine," she said, smiling again. "Why not? That seems fair."

"Do you have any thoughts?" he asked.

Yui smiled. "I like the name 'Shinji'," she said.

"Shinji?" Gendo asked contemptuously. "But…" he trailed away.

He got a flat stare for that. "You were the one who suggested I get to name a boy," she said. "Now, your turn. If it's a girl, what would you call her?"

Gendo nodded. He was warming to the idea of a little girl. Yes, a girl with her mother's brains and her father's sheer power. A little girl he could teach to fight, who'd make him proud - and who knows, maybe even find another survivor of the saiyan race and then he could at least be the grandfather of some three-quarters saiyans.

He knew the perfect name for his perfect little princess who'd one day lead a legion of cloned warriors in galactic conquest.

"Reice," he said.


	10. Act 1: Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

To the mountains and part of the shore lands of Japan, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.

Yui Ikari looked over the parched yellowing lands of her parents' estate. The insects were chirruping. They always chirruped now. If the heat had been unseasonal in January, it was now May and to go outside felt like standing too close to an oven. They said that things might settle down in a few years, but as it was, it was hell.

"How are you feeling, Mama?" she asked gently.

Ohatsu Ikari managed to stir herself from the wheelchair she was confined to. Second Impact had hit her hard, and she had deteriorated swiftly, culminating in her stroke a few months ago. Her hair was mostly white now and her right hand was useless. "Oh," she said, voice weak. "Some days are better than others."

"I meant right now."

Her mother tilted her head to face Yui. "That was me trying to be tactful, dear," she said. "I feel dreadful."

"You don't look it."

"You never were as good a liar as you think you are," her mother said. "I have the same question for you. How are you feeling? And don't lie to me, girl."

Yui considered her answer. "Utterly sick of being pregnant," she said bluntly.

"Hah! Yes, people who talk about the marvels of birth have Stockholm Syndrome. Or are men. How long to go?"

"My due date is the seventh of June," Yui said. "Only a few weeks to go. A few more weeks of this brat kicking me and crushing my organs and…" she sighed. "Gendo has the patience of a saint to put up with me right now. I'm being a bit vile to him."

"Oh, that's just something you get from me. Why do you think you're an only child?" Ohatsu paused. "Though I have been meaning to talk to you about him."

"Yes, mama?"

"He is well?"

"Like I said, yes. He's keeping busy, jetting around all over the place for SEELE."

"No signs of illness?"

"I don't think he's been ill a single day as long as I've known him," Yui said.

Ohatsu made a disgusted noise. "The leftover martial arts schools are all dying - and it's not my fault this time. I'm dying. Why isn't he dying?"

"He's strong," Yui said, paling. "What do you mean, the martial arts schools are dying? I thought it was just…"

"No, it's the Impact. And being strong doesn't help. That just makes the sickness worse. What's his secret technique?"

"I don't know," Yui lied. Unfortunately, Ohatsu couldn't learn 'Being A Saiyan'.

"Well, of course you don't," her mother said, voice bitter. "I tried to teach you my techniques when you were little and you had no skill at all. You couldn't even learn to sense ki. And I might be a cripple now, but you haven't got stronger at all - and I know you, girl. I know you must have tried to learn from him."

Yui blushed. "I never knew you knew the same things he did," she said softly. "Not until he told me. Why didn't you ever tell me you could do superhuman things?"

"Because you weren't good enough for me to train," Ohatsu said brutally. "It would have been a waste of my time."

"Mama!"

"Yui, it's true." She sighed. "I wish it wasn't so. I always thought you took after your father too much, but that's the problem. You don't. You think like me, girl, but you think about the wrong things. You haven't been able to learn from Gendo, either, have you?"

"I… I can throw a punch better."

"Can you project your ki as fire from your mouth? Break a wall with a single punch? Paralyse a man with a glance?"

"... you can do _all that_?" Yui asked, faintly shocked. Her mother had apparently been holding out on her. "I don't think even Gendo can do some of those things!"

"Ha! Wouldn't surprise me! He has so much raw power that he probably never had to learn the more subtle arts. Yui, I stole power from everywhere I could. I roamed the world, finding masters," the old woman's eyes narrowed, "and _taking_ everything I could. And that's where you're my daughter. I've had people explain your papers to me. You think so much like me. You take ideas from everyone and synthesise them into something new that no one has seen before. But you have too much of your father in you to be the student I wanted." Her head bobbed, as she glanced down at Yui's bulging belly. "Don't expect that your children will be who you want them to be. It twisted me inside that you'd never be the student I wanted."

Yui felt her eyes well up with tears. This was probably the most brutally honest conversation she'd ever had with her mother. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Don't be like that," Ohatsu said, reaching out with her good hand. "It's funny how things work out. If you were a better student, you'd be dying now. Just like me." She laughed again. "In the end, no one could beat me. I remain undefeated. But all the people I killed, all the martial arts schools I wiped out to learn their secrets… they couldn't stop _this_."

"It's not fair," Yui whispered.

"Of course it isn't. Life isn't fair. Never fight a fair fight if you have any choice, Yui. Didn't I teach you that?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Good girl. Poison your enemies before your fights. Make sure they eat rotten meat before the tournament. Attack them in their sleep. Kill their student first, so the master loses their calm. But just win. Always win." Ohatsu was drifting off to sleep. "In the end, that's all that matters. It's not about who's right. It's about who's left."

Yui waited by her side, but her mother didn't stir. With a sigh, she squeezed her hand. Damn her father. Damn him! Even if SEELE's plans came to fruition, she didn't think her mother would last long enough to see them. The Impact was killing her and even if she was clinging on with everything she had, there was only so much that one human could do.

Hand supporting her baby bump, she carefully rose and waddled out of the sickroom. Her father was waiting for her.

"Father," Yui said.

He looked at her sadly. "No 'Daddy'?" he asked.

"I'm a grown woman and you're nearly a grandfather," Yui said, trying to remain as personable as she could manage. "Gendo is going to be 'Daddy' soon."

Mitsuhide's eyes narrowed. "I suppose," he said neutrally.

"Oh, for goodness sake, grow up father. Please don't try to kill him any more." She paused. "I'm going to marry him after the child is born, you know," she said, bracing for impact.

He slumped. "Well, yes, of course you were going to disappoint me more," he said.

There was an awkward silence.

"Mama is in a bad state," Yui said softly. "How much longer do the doctors give her?"

Mitsuhide folded his hands in front of him. "Maybe a year," he said. "But they're wrong. She will survive. She'll be there at the end."

"I don't think she will," Yui said. "The stroke… it's taken too much out of her."

"She will be. Instrumentality comes. All pain will be gone," Mitsuhide said.

"Will it be worth it?" Yui said sadly.

"Yes. By definition. By the power of Lilith, all mistakes will be undone. This feeble world, this clouded world, this world filled with shattered fragments will be no more."

"And Mama?"

He directed a cold, level stare at his daughter. "Your mother is strong - stronger than you know. She _will_ survive to Third Impact."

"I hope so. I hope so," Yui said. But the hope died in her heart. Her father wasn't speaking from knowledge or medical expertise. That was raw fanaticism there, and the desperate hope that he hadn't killed his wife chasing immortality for the two of them.

When she got home, she made sure her will was updated.

* * *

A dented and algae-covered pod drifted through the black void of space, skimming low over the surface of the moon.

It had been years since Gendo had piloted his pod, and he was sure the steering was pulling to the left and down. Maybe he should have spent more time cleaning it up after he left it on the bottom of the ocean. Well, he'd have time to regret that later - unless he crashed, in which case he'd regret it immediately.

Something went "clang" against the outside of his pod. Bringing the pod to a stop, he turned around. He'd hit a flagpole, and knocked it and its heavily faded flag over.

Urgh. Who the hell left flagpoles lying around on nearly uninhabited rocks? Honestly. Some people had no sense of safety. That'd probably left a _dent_.

He was close, though. Resuming his journey - albeit somewhat more cautiously in case of any more Unidentified Flying Flags - he rose carefully over the lip of a crater.

There it was. SEELE's secret moon base. From what Yui said, they spread rumours that humans had never visited the moon so they could cover up that they had a mining facility here. Even she wasn't sure what they did.

But Gendo had his suspicions. They were probably looking for something related to how this moon was stupid and poisonous. In retrospect, he had no idea what would have happened if the saiyans had gone and invaded here. They would have tried to turn into giant city-destroying apes, and then the poisonous moon would have ruined everything.

It would have been a military catastrophe.

But time to see what they were doing here on the moon. They had radar stations up. He'd need to approach carefully, in the shadow of the lunar geography. And-

His glasses chimed.

"Gendo." It was Yui, calling him. She sounded faint of breath. "Where are you?"

"In space."

"Well, get back here right now."

"What's wrong?" he asked, paling. "It's the fifth... the child isn't due until the seventh."

"They don't care. The baby's coming now. Get here _right now_. Before something terrible happens."

* * *

Strange lights were seen in the sky over Tokyo, and the police had to issue a formal denial that any aliens were invading the city. A perfectly innocent owner of a fast-food ramen place suffered traumatic flashbacks and had to breathe into a paper bag.

However, none of that mattered to the alien in question, who barged through the doors to the private hospital so hard that the hinges tore off. Before questions could be asked, he had already threatened the receptionist into taking him directly to Yui Ikari's room.

He made the mistake of leaning in to kiss his beloved girlfriend.

"I will bite your head off!" Yui snarled, grabbing Gendo by the collar. "You did this to me!"

"No, you won't, dear," Gendo said calmly. "Your mouth couldn't fit over my head."

"I _will find a way_."

"Ah, first time mothers," the midwife said wisely, as if her patient wasn't apparently considering maiming the expectant father. "Don't worry, ma'am. Your urge to murder and eat your partner will go away once you get your epidural."

"You get this a lot?" Gendo asked, ignoring Yui.

"It's a fairly common reaction from women who haven't done this before. And her files do note that your child has quite a large head. Don't worry, though - we're monitoring the situation, and there doesn't seem to be any need for a caesarian yet."

"You didn't get back fast enough!" Yui screamed in his face. "Kyoko drove me to the hospital!"

Gendo paled. He had met Yui's colleague a few times. "How is she allowed near a car?"

"She drives everywhere at twenty kilometres an hour," Yui ranted. "She has the sense of direction of a hard-boiled egg! She navigates by random walk! I had to give her directions from the back seat and have you ever tried navigating when giving birth? It's _really hard_."

"Are you hurt?"

"My stress levels are through the roof! This is _not_ a nurturing state to be in!" Yui roared. Her eyes were glowing red by this point, although the general consensus of the onlookers was that so far this remained a metaphorical glow.

"Well, I'm thinking that-"

"Do I look like I care what you think!? This is the only baby you're getting out of me! I'll kill anyone who thinks about putting another child in me! I swear I will!"

Everyone was therefore quite relieved when the doctor arrived and an epidural was administered. Yui suddenly relaxed. Her eyes widened, and her death-glare frown vanished, a somewhat goofy smile taking its place. "That's nice," she said. "Ver' ver' nice. All… all happy and floaty. I feel so good. Like I don't have any worries. All happy." She went to wipe her sweaty brow with her sleeve, missed, and knocked the lamp off the bedside table. "Oopsie," she said, and giggled.

"... is this normal?" Gendo asked the midwife, frowning.

"It takes some women more heavily than others," she said. "Don't worry, she's just a lot happier and the pain isn't there."

Yui stared over at the broken lamp. "Did I do that?" she asked in mild consternation.

"Yes dear, you did," Gendo said, carefully moving any breakables away from her.

"My goodness," Yui said. "This mus' be how 'Yoko feels _all the time_."

* * *

But, alas, the baby apparently had decided that for all its previous hurry, it was now perfectly comfortable in the warmth where it didn't have to do anything like breathing for itself. At this point, being born sounded like it'd just be making trouble for itself. And on top of everything else, it'd also involve an unpleasant period of having one's head squeezed.

"Is it out yet?"

"No."

"Is it out yet?"

"No."

"Is it out yet?"

" _No!_ "

The mother-to-be was none too happy about this.

"... is it out yet?"

Hours passed. Midnight passed. Then, on the sixth of June, 2001, Yui gave one last push and finally the child slithered free. The doctor - who all in all hadn't deserved a patient like Yui, even with the blackmail material she had acquired on him - lifted the babe, who started to cry.

"Congratulations", he said, over the wailing. "It's a boy."

"Aww," Yui said.

"Oh," said Gendo.

"Now let me just tie the umbilical cord." Realisation - and horror - dawned. "Wait a moment, that's not the umbilical cord! That's a tail!"

"That's ex'ctly what I tol' them," Yui slurred, still rather affected by the epidural. "But do they l'sten? No! I said we should call it a tail!""

Gendo's heart leapt. It was a son, true, but there was a tail! Even if it seemed shorter than it should be, and pale and hairless. He cracked his knuckles. "You saw. Nothing," the new father said firmly.

"But the boy has a…"

"Nothing."

The doctor swallowed. "So… uh, what are you going to call him?"

His eyes widened. This was his chance while Yui was out of it. He'd just need to establish the facts on the ground quickly. "His name is Ka-"

"Shinji," Yui said, with all the firmness of a new mother who had gone through a long and painful birth and therefore didn't see a good reason why everyone else should be intact.

* * *

Of course, there were complications. However, Yui Ikari was nothing if not prepared, and the black suited men she had hired in advance helped her partner carefully explain to the hospital staff that recording certain things would result in mysteries happening. When it was questioned what kind of mysteries, it was strongly implied that they would not be mysterious deliveries of flowers.

Their new son spent most of his time in Yui's arms. She seemed intent on getting maximum hugging utility out of him, in payment for nine months of inconvenience and fourteen hours of pain.

Gendo was more than a little disappointed to find that his son had inherited his mother's power level.

"Well, maybe he'll grow into it," Yui said, cooing as her son nursed.

" _I_ was born with a power level of thirty seven," Gendo protested, taking off his glasses and checking in desperation that they weren't broken.

"Some children are late bloomers." Yui stroked Shinji's tail. "And isn't it a pretty tail?"

"It's half the length a healthy tail should be on a newborn. And it's nearly hairless!"

Yui raised her eyebrows. "It's more a very pale blond. Just like human body hair. He's only half-saiyan, darling. Don't be surprised when he has some human traits."

He sighed. "I suppose," he conceded. "And he is a very pretty baby."

Yui beamed. "I know. I did an _excellent_ job here. As a growth vat, I am _clearly_ superlative - and capable of producing xenohybrids. Something which _no one_ else has ever managed."

"... is that something to be proud of?" Gendo asked, genuinely confused at where she was going with this.

"It means I'm scientifically the best mother in human history. No other mother has achieved what I have." Yui grinned manically. "Every other mother just _thinks_ their child is special. I am correct in knowing mine is."

"Yes, dear." He paused. "So," Gendo asked, "when do we send him off to some other planet to conquer it?"

He received a full-on glare for that.

"What? I got sent to a world full of pathetically weak aliens when I was a baby and it didn't do me any harm."

"That's known as child abandonment."

"Very well. We can send him to a different country on this world, if you want to coddle him."

"Gendo. No."

He spread his hands in utter confusion. "But how is he meant to grow strong if he isn't given challenges and adversity?"

That night, Gendo stared up at the ceiling of the living room. He had been exiled from the bedroom after providing Yui with a suitable list of countries for their son to conquer.

"What did I say?" he asked the world.


	11. Act 1: Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

In the week before their departure to Hakone, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Shinji.

"I am _not_ an old crone," snapped Naoko Akagi.

"I didn't say anything," Yui said innocently.

"I could hear you thinking it!"

"Naoko, Naoko, Naoko," Yui said patronisingly. "Maybe you should get some therapy, because I think I'm sensing some irrational dislike."

The year was 2003. Yui and Gendo had married. He had taken her name, because it was not like he had been particularly attached to the name 'Rokubungi'. His 'father' had died in Second Impact along with a bevy of bikini-clad young ladies, when his low-lying Pacific island had been swamped by the tsunamis rolling up from the South Pole. Gendo had only told people trying to commiserate that his father had died how he'd have wanted to go.

"Anyway," Yui continued, "please don't shout in front of my son." She patted Shinji's head, as the two year old tried to get her attention and show the brightly coloured block he was playing with. "You'll upset him."

Naoko gritted her teeth. "I came to discuss something work-related," she said. "You took this week off for the move, and you don't have a secure line. This isn't about your son."

Yui sighed. "Is it really so critical?" she asked.

"Yes. It's to do with the Severance Attempt. I have some files that are secure enough that I'm one of the few people with the clearance to transport them. And I'm no happier about this than you are, but they want you to review all of them by next Wednesday."

"They know I'm on leave," Yui said tetchily.

"I know. It's that urgent." Naoko scowled. "I know how much you're just waiting to make critical comments about everything."

Yui massaged her temples. "I'm claiming all this week as three times overtime," she said bluntly.

Naoko looked around the house, eyebrows raised. "Are you sure you need the money?"

"I don't, but it's not about the money," Yui said shamelessly. "It's about making sure that GEHIRN appreciates the scheduling and doesn't think they can pull these kinds of stunts when you _knew_ I was on leave."

"And the fact that your husband is the Director…"

"That would seem to suggest that I'll get the compensation approved, don't you think?" Yui said smugly, folding her hands in front of her. "Give me the documents."

"You'll need to sign for them, Ikari," Naoko said from between clenched teeth. "And inspect them to ensure everything is there. Remember protocol."

Yui sighed. "Gendo!" she shouted. "Get in here!"

Somewhat dusty, Gendo descended from the attic where he'd been boxing up things. In the sweltering heat of post-Impact Japan, he was shirtless, and Naoko Akagi got her first sight of her superior's chest.

This did not help her feel any cooler.

"Yes?"

"Take Shinji and entertain him. GEHIRN is calling me back up for emergency review of documents for the Separation Attempt." She glanced at the older woman. "This way, Naoko."

Gendo was left with Shinji.

"Block!" Shinji said brightly, waving the purple-and-green-painted cube at his father. He dropped it to pick up two more. "Purple block anna bloo block anna red block!" he added, hitting the red and blue blocks into each other.

"I can't believe she's teaching you about those kinds of blocks first," Gendo said, scooping his son up into his arms. "There's only one kind of block that a saiyan really needs."

Shinji screwed his face up in confusion. "Lellow block?" he tried.

"No." Gendo looked around furtively. "Mama is busy with work things," he whispered to Shinji. "Come on! Let's go down to Daddy's secret basement and Daddy can teach you about the most important kind of block there is."

* * *

"Gendo," Yui said suspiciously at dinner that night, as she helped Shinji feed himself and tried to stop him from trying to just cram plain noodles into his mouth with both hands. "Why does he have a bruise on his face?"

"He's so clumsy. I was teaching him about blocks," Gendo said innocently. "Just like you've been teaching him about blocks."

Inside, though, he was very disappointed. Shinji was bad at blocking. He'd hardly been able to deflect any of the tennis balls that Gendo had been throwing at him.

Yui was coddling him. That was the only explanation he had. But of course, he couldn't say anything. Things would go even worse for Gendo if he tried to explain this than they had after she'd found out he'd been feeding Shinji baby mice - which was grotesquely unfair! Shinji had enjoyed toddling after the mice. But no, she'd exploded when she'd caught Shinji with a tail sticking out of his mouth.

Humans clearly just didn't know how to raise children properly. No wonder they'd wiped out half their species in pursuit of power. Pah! Saiyans hadn't done that in at least a century!

* * *

Crickets made noise outside. The sky was blue, and heat haze shimmered over the rooftops of Hakone. The sunlight streamed down into the lavish office of the Director of GEHIRN. It was hard to remember here that a quarter of the population of Japan was still living in temporary housing, and the refugee camps around Tokyo were sitting on the edge of an irradiated, mosquito-filled swamp-ruin.

"Do you remember what I told you in 2001?" Kozo Fuyutsuki slammed the files down onto the table in front of Director Gendo Ikari. "I told you about the… the _dirty_ rumours going around about your group, your so-called 'SEELE'. And I told you that I didn't much appreciate how you and your… your _cronies_ were covering up the investigation!"

Gendo sat back in his chair. Kozo Fuyutsuki had been dogging his tracks since Yui had had him deliver a card to her old mentor, who she'd found had been working illegally as a doctor in the ruins of old Tokyo. He'd kept an eye on the man since then. Fuyutsuki had been running around like a bloodhound, sniffing up facts and allegations and rumours. He'd sought out the lone survivor of the Katsuragi expedition, that very annoying loud girl - who was now mute and hadn't been able to tell him a thing. He wasn't working on full knowledge of what had gone on in Antarctica, but he knew enough that he was dangerous.

"And I'll tell you the same thing I told you then," Gendo replied curtly. "You're so naive. No clean system survives contact with reality. Across the universe, every government and every world is no doubt just as corrupt as this one. It is the way things are."

"I prefer to believe there might be better people out there in space, and that not all souls are as tarnished as man's," Fuyutsuki said, slumping down.

"You're a fool, then."

"Perhaps - but I'd rather be a fool than someone like you!"

"Then that is proof that you are a fool," Gendo said, leaning forwards. His orange glasses caught the light. No, Kozo Fuyutsuki was just a weak human, not like Gendo at all. But he was smart, he was tenacious, and he was determined. Yui respected him. Yui thought he could be useful, especially now she doubted SEELE's path - and that man had no love for the cult.

Fuyutsuki slammed both fists down into the desk. Gendo merely stared at him impassively, unimpressed by the man's attempted display of force. "Why did you conceal the existence of the giant?! You knew Second Impact was going to happen, didn't you?! You can talk all you want to about how it was just luck, that you returned one day before it occurred!" He jabbed his finger in Gendo's face. "But how do you explain the fact that you brought back all the expeditions records and findings?! I know for a fact your personal files contain more than we recovered, Ikari!"

Gendo stared at the finger, and repressed the urge to bend it back until it snapped. It was a saiyan response, yes, but not a helpful one. So he'd found out that Gendo had also secured all the Katsuragi Expedition files, on SEELE's orders. Well. "I'm surprised that these weren't destroyed," he said with false mildness. It helped him conceal the violence he really wanted to commit against this annoying shouty weak little man.

"You were sloppy. I've checked into your estate as well. Bringing up a child - and educating him - is expensive. But isn't this a bit much for a civil servant?" Fuyutsuki accused.

"Very impressive Prof. Fuyutsuki. Perhaps you should be teaching economics?"

Fuyutsuki squared his shoulders. "I'm going to go public with the real truth about you, SEELE, Second Impact and the Dead Sea Scrolls," he said, eyes narrow "What you've done is completely inexcusable!"

At that moment, Gendo really reconsidered his wife's opinion of this man's intelligence. What kind of man would assume that someone with as much power as Gendo was a weak pushover? If he really went public, why, that'd damage Gendo's interests significantly. Even if he was human, that'd just be asking for him to kill this nosy professor. He considered for a moment what would have happened if some low class warrior had tried that on King Vegeta. Things would have been bloody.

Ah, but his wife wanted him to make the effort.

"As you wish," Gendo said. "But first, there is something I'd like to show you."

And if that didn't work, he'd snap Kozo Fuyutsuki in half and then disintegrate his body, he decided there and then.

* * *

Kozo Fuyutsuki was a broken man when he next saw Yui Ikari.

Much to her relief, he was only broken mentally, not physically. She had been extremely concerned about that, given that she had worked out that he had been psyching himself up to confront her husband. She had really hoped that they could get through their meeting without Gendo crushing his skull or splattering him over the wall. She was still fond of the old man, who had been a good tutor for her.

But if it came down to it and he had needed to kill Fuyutsuki, she would have supported him and helped him cover it up. That was why she was so happy to see that he was all right.

"I saw it," Kozo said, sitting down beside her in the park in Hakone. The skyline was filled with construction equipment. The city that would be Tokyo-3 was taking shape around them - a perfect model city in a world where hundreds of millions were living in refugee camps. This fortress city was what the United Nations was spending its money on.

"Saw what?" Yui said, keeping a tight hold on Shinji's reins.

"Don't make me say it. That thing down there, down in the depths. Your Unit Zero."

"They let you in that deep?" Yui asked, mildly surprised. "No… no, Shinji, honey, bugs are not for eating." She quickly knocked the earthworm out of his hands. "No. _No_." She glanced at Kozo. "If we're going to talk, let's take him to the sandpit."

With Shinji safely ensconced in a place with fewer small creatures to pounce on and consume, Yui could pay full attention to the affairs of global apocalyptic conspiracies.

"He will grow up in a world without seasons," Kozo said. "How can you do this to him?"

"He can be happy anywhere because he's alive," Yui said, with a hint of melancholy as she thought of her mother, who had passed away quietly in her sleep a year ago. "And I'm going to give him the best start in life I can manage. I'm not some people."

* * *

Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu looked around her apartment. It was entirely child-proofed, with nothing lying around that a clumsy, ill-coordinated, curious person could use to accidentally hurt themselves.

Now, was there anything she'd have to change here to make it safe for Asuka?

* * *

"All this money," said Kozo. "All this money, spent on building a new city for just a few. On building a biocomputing system when the world needs food. On building a gigantic weapon of war when we've seen enough war." He folded his hands on his lap. "Your husband said you were creating a new genesis for mankind."

"He was telling you the truth," Yui replied, gazing into the middle distance at the construction equipment building Tokyo-3. "Mankind will not survive as it is. I remember your lectures, professor. Do you remember what you used to talk about? Alternate phase configurations of the human soul?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"That is what the Giant of Light at the South Pole was," she said. "The DNA of that creature is nearly identical to human DNA, but the the phase state of the metaphysical biology is radically different."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying your theories about the nature of human form were more accurate than you thought," she said sadly. "The reductionism of most biologists was wrong, and you were right. The human phenotype is far, far more flexible than the mere skeletal structure of the genotype." She nodded at Shinji, who was shaping something in the sandpit. It looked like he was building a sandcastle of some sort, or possibly a pyramid. "The sand there is the human genome, but the soul… the soul says that this genome can be in so many different states."

"So the giant down there… the product of Project E. The thing _you've_ been working on. It is, and is not, human."

"What is 'human'?" Yui said. "Human is what we make of it. It is not of the genome, nor of the flesh."

"A great human work, ha," Fuyutsuki said.

"The 'great work' was the journey of medieval alchemists," Yui observed.

"They failed."

"We shall not. We shall define human as we see fit," Yui said, staring at her son. "We might as well say that 'human' lives in how we treat each other and the models we build of each other's in our heads. It's all that's left to us."

Kozo glowered. "Then what does that say about what happened in Antarctica," he demanded. "What kind of human would do that?"

"No one ever said 'human' was nice," Yui said. "Dr Katsuragi was an arrogant man. He chased after glory. He should be glad that instead all he will get is obscurity, for if his name was spread he would have infamy instead."

Fuyutsuki slumped down. "That is true," he conceded. "But what did _you_ know, Yui?"

"I didn't know everything," she said, turning to him and taking his hands. "I knew about the Giant of Light and I knew that Professor Katsuragi was experimenting on it, but I didn't know much more. They were keeping us separate from the Antarctica team."

Fuyutsuki took a deep breath. "Gendo knows more than you," he blurted out. "He was there. He left just in time - and Yui, I heard the rumours that he's just using you on behalf of S-"

"Hush." Yui squeezed his hands tight. "I know you worry about me, but I know what I'm doing."

"I wish I could believe that. You're so young, Yui. I fear you're being used."

"You're sweet, old man," Yui said fondly. "But-"

With a roar, Shinji lept onto his sand-pyramid, jumping up and down on it until it was just sand-rubble.

"Shinji," Yui said.

"Gragh!" Shinji said happily. "Crush tiny housey."

"Shinji, has Daddy been playing Apes and Cities again with you?" Yui said, picking him up.

"Uh uh!" Shinji said, beaming widely as he wriggled in her grasp to get comfortable.

"Then Mummy needs to talk to Daddy about _that_." Yui's phone rang. "Hold him for a moment," she said, passing the boy to Fuyutsuki.

"So you're the responsible one in that relationship, heh?" Kozo said, accepting the little boy. "I wouldn't have put that on him."

"Gendo has very specific ideas of parenting," Yui said, digging around in her purse. "I do not agree with all of them. One of us has to be the grounded one, you know."

* * *

Twelve SEELE monoliths surrounded Yui Ikari. Each black shape, marked with a red number, floated in a black void. She stood in the spotlight in the centre calmly, awaiting the results of their deliberations.

"Yui Ikari," said SEELE 01. "Do you know why we have summoned you here?"

"If the reason you gave me for requesting my presence is correct, then you want to discuss the progression of Project E," Yui said. "However, it is possible that was just a lie to get me to show up."

"Are you being clever with us?" SEELE 09 demanded.

"You don't pay me to be stupid," she said. "I'm merely answering your questions."

"She's doing it ag-"

"Ahem." SEELE 01 cleared its throat. "You are correct. We have discussed how Project E will advance. We have selected the first Test Pilot. Yui Ikari. You shall be the First Woman."

Yui nodded. She had expected it. "I understand," she said. She understood both what they were saying, and what they were not saying. SEELE was ready to sacrifice any of its members to achieve its goals, although of course the old men at the top were oddly enough unwilling to sacrifice themselves. And if she refused to do this, the reprisals against her would be severe. The old men would take it as proof of her disloyalty. She did have a way out they didn't know about, fleeing to space with Gendo, but that would mean abandoning her homeworld.

It was a good thing she wanted to pilot the Test Model. No, she _needed_ to.

"Naoko Akagi's analysis is clear," SEELE 02 said. "At both a genetic and intellectual level, you are the most suited individual for piloting the Test Model."

"As the designer of many of these systems and someone who understands and appreciates our goals, you are best placed to shape and manipulate the outcomes to the ends we desire," SEELE 06 said.

"Yes," Yui nodded.

"Indeed," SEELE 01 said. "The risks will be significant, but the rewards will be beyond counting."

"Yes, they will," Yui said, managing to resist the urge to laugh maniacally.

"We shall ensure that all goes according to the scenario," SEELE 01 said.

"According to the scenario," all of SEELE echoed.

"I shall make sure of it. I am the most loyal servant of our great work," Yui lied.


	12. Act 1: Chapter 12

**CHAPTER 12**

A squat grey building of only four stories. Over the main entrance the words "UN Artificial Evolution Laboratory" and, in a shield, GEHIRN's Motto: "But I had so near made out the sun, And counted your stars, the Seven and One".

But the building went a long way down, down into the Black Egg that lay under Hakone, and in the heart of that subterranean world was a white-lit room. The Separation Experiment had failed. The Lilith creature was not cleanly severed, and stretched out in that white place she waited, seemingly without will or want.

Yui Ikari knew of that room. And that is why she had come to her old professor in his little office in Hakone. GEHIRN had him too, now, at least on paper.

But she had his mind. She had made sure of this.

"You know I don't trust SEELE," Kozo Fuyutsuki said. "Why do you trust me?"

"Because I don't trust them either," she said, eyes hovering over her watch. She couldn't be here for too long. "I've been involved with them for a long time - longer than you think. I suppose you could say I was born into the organisation."

"But Second Impact left you doubting?"

"Yes."

Fuyutsuki smiled. "Does admitting to such a human feeling shame you?"

"It makes me fear. To express such a human sentiment out loud is not safe."

The man nodded. "Ah." It fitted in with what he wanted to believe about her, and so he believed it. "What do you need?"

"The Contact Experiment is soon. It will be dangerous." Yui ran her hands through her hair. "The old men are moving faster than I want. The Separation Experiment should have succeeded before the Contact Experiment was permitted to begin. That was what all the plans were working towards. But the body of Unit 01 is still attached to the Second Angel."

"They are rushing you."

"They are."

"Can't you say anything?"

Yui shook her head. "No. They would find it easy to erase anyone who slowed them down. Even I am expendable, though I have a longer line of credit than most. Being hard to replace has its advantages."

"Do you know what will happen in the Contact Experiment?"

Yui steepled her fingers. "No," she admitted. "There are a range of possibilities, and I am only human. I have to try to make things work with the tools I have; my mind, my body and my soul."

"I will pray that it works out." Kozo Fuyutsuki reached out and grasped her wrist. "I trust in you and in your goals."

Fool. He trusted in what he believed her goals to be. Yui smiled a fake smile and allowed him to see that it was just a mask, so that he would misunderstand what she was hiding. "All I can do is hope. There is room for this to go wrong, and room for this to go right. It may kill me - or nearly kill me. But I can hope that my contingencies might save this world - and you are one of them. Can I trust you?"

"Forever and always," the old man said, leaning in.

"That's all I can ask for," Yui said, with a quiet smile.

* * *

"A glorious day is coming," said Dr Hood, leaning over the print-outs. "I can't wait to see the results of the Contact Experiment. Can you believe it? Long has man hoped to know the mind of God. Indeed, one might say that this has been the purpose of scientific research for all these years. And now we shall!"

"I don't believe we could describe Lilith as 'God'," Naoko Akagi said, folding her arms. "It is a sleeping alien monster - nothing more."

"And yet it spawned us," the man said, drifting over to the window. Staring down at the chamber where the Contact Experiment would occur, he reached out. His fingers met the glass, but he pressed against it as if he could touch the experiment - and the half-separated Evangelion. "Perhaps that is the true form of man. The human skin we wear is an illusion, something forced on us by a cruel demiurge. Well, perhaps we shall seize back this power and assume our rightful shapes."

Naoko shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like it much when her nominal superiors talked in this manner. Dr Hood was on the Human Instrumentality Committee, while she was merely the Head of Science for Project E. Still, she couldn't help but feel slightly off when he talked like this.

She understood the immensity of the power they were reaching out for, of course. A working Evangelion would be a weapon without compare, invincible to anything conventional and capable of slaying an Angel. But still, it didn't seem healthy to think about such a super-weapon in this way, even if genetically the Evangelions were human.

"Perhaps, sir," she said. "That'll depend on the results of the experiment."

"Well, of course," Dr Hood said, still staring down at the Evangelion. "This Contact Experiment is crucial. It must go as planned. Your input was crucial."

"Oh?" Naoko asked, smiling faintly.

"Yes. Very useful indeed. We were already looking to use Yui Ikari as the First Woman, but that she was also the ideal candidate was very convenient."

Naoko paled. "Convenient?"

"Did I say that? I meant 'convincing'."

She wetted her lips, suddenly feeling in danger. "H-have you chosen the Second Woman yet?" she asked.

"No. Not yet. There are still a few candidates under consideration. Depending on the results of this experiment, of course."

"Well, if something goes wrong here," Naoko Akagi observed nastily, "only a complete idiot would willingly climb in an Evangelion."

* * *

"And what do we do next when leaving the house?" Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu asked her daughter.

One hand in the pocket of her little gingham dress and the other clinging onto a rag doll, Asuka chewed her lip, deep in concentration. The three-year old's reddish-blonde hair was tied up in pigtails, and her fair skin slightly pink from the sun. "We put our shoes on!" she concluded.

Kyoko checked her feet. For once, she was wearing matching socks. "Well done! And where do we keep the shoes?"

A deep, focussed scowl. "Under the stairs!" Asuka eventually decided.

Kyoko checked, and then wrapped her up in a big hug. "Well done! You remembered! It's much faster for Mama to get dressed and go to work when you're here to help her with these things! Now Mama needs to go to…"

Asuka tugged at her mother's skirt. "Here!" she insisted, passing the rag doll to her mother. "She'll help you 'member things. You can ask her instead of me when you're at work."

Wrapping her daughter up in a hug, Kyoko sniffled. "I'm so lucky to have you," she whispered gently to her daughter. "You look after me. Not like your Daddy. He has his secretary - and it took me far too long to realise, as usual - but I have you."

* * *

The engineering staff of GEHIRN had been running overtime for three months straight to prepare for the Contact Experiment after the failure of the Separation Experiment. They were stressed, buzzed, and running mostly on a mix of caffeine and over the counter stimulants. And now Director Gendo Ikari had gathered them all for a motivational speech, which was time they desperately needed to get things ready.

Nerves were running tight in GEHIRN, and it must be said, Gendo Ikari was not a people person. Some of the senior staff had sworn that they felt like he was on the edge of picking them up bodily and throwing them out the door whenever they reported a new problem to him.

"I wish to say a few words with regards to our preparations for the upcoming Contact Experiment," Gendo said. "I will keep it short and simple."

He cleared his throat, and sipped at his water.

"My wife will be in there," Gendo said. "If anything goes wrong, and I find it was the fault of any of you - any of you at all - then I will hold you personally responsible. No matter your contacts, no matter how you got the job, no matter who you think will keep you safe. If something goes wrong, and I find out that your action or inaction caused it, I will _blame you_."

Gendo lifted a pencil. In the silence, he casually snapped it in three places, and let the pieces fall in a clatter.

"Is that clear?" he asked.

There was a mumbled chorus of shocked agreement.

"I don't hear a 'Yes, Director Ikari'," he said.

"Yes, Director Ikari!"

Gendo nodded once, and swept out without saying a further word.

* * *

But of course merely threatening the engineering staff, enjoyable though it was, couldn't settle his nerves. So to let out some stress Gendo set off to Malaysia, and started setting countryside on fire.

The fact that this revealed how out of shape he was only made him more disgusted. More disgusted with himself, more disgusted with this world and more disgusted with everything. Urgh. Look at him, he thought as he destroyed a village. Getting tired doing something as simple as blowing up a settlement of unarmoured civilians.

How had he let himself go to seed like this? Was it fatherhood? Was that why saiyans traditionally sent their children away - that being a father made you get soft and less good at wiping out people who weren't even fighting back? Well, they were shooting at him with guns, but that wasn't _real_ fighting back. Even though the bullets were stinging more than they should have when they actually hit him.

It was the lack of a proper challenge, he thought sadly, as he blew up a small dam, flooding fields and homes. Well, that wasn't true. He knew there was something out there - the Adam creature and the Lilith creature. But he couldn't scratch either of them. Not in a million years. There was no way he could fight either of them on an equal footing, so there wasn't the drive to prepare. What'd be the point? He'd just spend years training, only to be squished like an insect by either of them. So he hadn't tried. There was another path to power here, but that involved a lot of sitting in offices, doing paperwork, and having secretive meetings.

Not that he didn't enjoy it! He did! Having power here over these squishy humans was wonderful! This was power he'd never have got in the Recon Corps - or even if he'd gone into another branch. He'd never been much of a saiyan compared to even the best of the low-ranking warriors. Here, he commanded people.

But this meant he was soft. Soft, flabby and out of breath. He looked around the burning landscape. Pathetic. It'd taken him far too long to do this. He was weak.

How could he keep his wife safe like this? How could he keep his weak pathetic son safe? Gendo did love his son - and he had the right instincts, because it warmed his heart to watch the little boy kick around toy cars and knock over dollhouses, even if that had got them shouted at by other parents when they took Shinji to play somewhere. But his power level was so low. Being weak was no defence, he thought, looking around the burning village. Weakness didn't stop someone like him from flying in and blowing it up to let off some stress. Weakness didn't do a damn thing. Because it was _weak_.

Why was Yui so attached to this weak world? Seizing the power of this 'synthetic Angel' she was building was admirable, but there had to be a better solution - one that didn't put her in danger! He could keep her safe! He had to keep her safe! So they could have plenty more children - and maybe one would inherit his full saiyan power!

But she wouldn't listen to him. He should have taken her away years ago, and there was no way she'd give in now. Damn SEELE and damn Yui's father.

Shoulders slumping, Gendo flew off, devastation in his wake.

* * *

Yui pushed the pushchair up the ramp to the private hospital. Someone swept by, and didn't hold the door open for her. Yui glared after him.

"You're lucky I'm in a rush," she muttered. "Or else I'd put some effort into finding out who you are. And set my husband on you."

She checked herself into a private room, locked the door, and lifted Shinji from his pushchair. "Hey, Shinji," she said gently. "How're you feeling?"

Shinji beamed at his mother. "'Kay!" he said happily.

"Good, good. And where are we right now?"

The little boy looked around the room. "Mama's work?" he tried.

"No, this is the hospital. What do you know about hospitals?"

"Doctors!"

"That's right! Now, come on. Just take your clothes off, and there'll be a lollypop for you in this."

He enthusiastically started pulling off his t-shirt, swayed by the bribe of sweets. When he pulled off his trousers, his tail unfolded from where it had been hidden, wound around his waist. The hair was still a little thicker than it had been when he had been born, but it was still the blond of human body hair and so it looked rather rat-like and pathetic. Yui sighed. It wasn't anything near as impressive as his father's had been. It was a shame, really.

"Don't worry, Shinji," Yui said, reaching out to stroke her son's cheek. "Mama just needs to take a little something from you. It'll just be a little cut, she promises. You won't even miss it. And she very much needs it."

"My lolly!"

"... no, Shinji, I'm not talking about the lollypop. I'm going to give this to you after this is done. But," she said, picking up a syringe, "you're just going to need to go to sleep for a little bit."

The light fell on a row of scalpels. There wasn't a chorus of shrieking violins playing, but there probably should have been.

Yui Ikari reminded herself that she was, speaking as a scientist, the world's best mother. It made what came next so much easier.

* * *

The office was on fire. The dead FAUST agents littered the ground.

"Ikari. The fuck?" croaked the lone survivor, pinned down beneath the wreckage. Captain Hakaze gasped for air. This was insane. This was _mad_. "Why?"

"Because I could," Gendo Ikari growled. His turtleneck was torn and his knuckles were bruised. Wait. No, those weren't bruises. It was soot. That was just unfair. "Because I want answers."

"SEELE will find out about this. What you did. They'll kill you."

Gendo laughed. "You're even more stupid than they are if they think they'll find out what happened here."

"There are cameras…"

"Cameras which rely on the building being intact."

The dying man tried to scrabble for his holdout. "How the hell did you do that? You just…"

Gendo picked him up by the neck, breaking his hand in the process. "I ask the questions here. So, question number one. What do you have planned for the Contact Experiment?"

"Huh?"

"The Contact Experiment! What are your plans?!"

"You're… you're the director of GEHIRN," Captain Hakaze gasped, each breath pain through his broken ribs. "You're the one running things there!"

"Am I?" Gendo roared in his face. "Am I? What are SEELE planning? What are FAUST going to do?!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Gendo ground his teeth together. "You know something. There's some plan. You're moving people in! Half the JSSDF soldiers around the facility are FAUST now!"

"We're… just… security! We're just there to stop people interfering!"

That wasn't the answer he wanted. He'd hoped there was a reason for this. He'd wanted a plot, something he could bring to Yui to dissuade her from going through with this. Of course, he didn't disapprove of the idea of his wife trying to steal the power of a god.

He just disapproved of her being the _first_ one to try it. That's what people who were less expendable were for.

Taking off, he torched the site and headed home.

* * *

"I hear you've been worrying about me," Yui said, grasping Gendo's arm. Twas the night before the Contact Experiment, and a strangely quiet Shinji had been put to bed, where he had slept on his side.

"Of course I've been worrying," Gendo said stiffly, staring up at the ceiling.

"Violently worrying."

"Well, I wouldn't say…"

"What I mean is that you attacked a FAUST facility, burned it to the ground and killed everyone inside."

"I also killed everyone on the outside," Gendo pointed out.

"Well, that's good. You don't want witnesses," Yui said, lying on her side. "But that doesn't change my fundamental point that you can't just do that."

"I beg to differ. I can and did."

"... yes, dear, but perhaps you shouldn't. It's dangerous to attack FAUST like that. What if footage had got out?"

Gendo harrumphed. "Look, I do what I do and you do what you do. I don't tell you how to do science, do I?"

"I just want you to take more care," Yui whispered.

"FAUST are moving people in, disguised as JSSDF troops," Gendo said, reaching out to wrap his arms around Yui. "I had to keep you safe. I had to find out what they were really planning. I can't keep you safe from the Evangelion, but I can stop FAUST from interfering and I can make sure the engineering team are working their hardest."

"Yes, and I appreciate that even though there have been mutterings from some of the staff. They find you scary."

"Good. That's what I want."

Yui leaned in to kiss him on the lips. "You big lump," she said fondly. "Never change."

He kissed her back. "Yui," he whispered. "Why not come away with me? The three of us could fit into the pod. We could go elsewhere. Conquer another world. Make it safe for our children."

Yui said nothing. She merely kissed him again, hands drifting south.

* * *

And then it was the day. Yui Ikari stepped out of the cleansing shower, feeling profoundly exfoliated by the chemicals. Her immersion training in LCL had been deeply unpleasant, but it was important that she didn't gag or suffer excessive stress in this test.

Her immersion dive suit was waiting for her. She'd be wearing it in the entry plug. Reaching out, she ran her fingers over the blue and white material.

Checking inside the suit, she found what she'd made sure was there. She had gone to quite some lengths to smuggle in this 'foreign contaminant'. It wasn't meant to be in here. The protocols were very strict. Any contaminant in the test could potentially have catastrophic effects.

But of course, it wasn't foreign. Not exactly. Not to her. Her immune system was quite used to this cellular matter. It had tolerated it for nine months. Trace cells from it still remained in her bloodstream.

As she saw it, there were three ways this could go. Either things would go gloriously right, things would go horribly wrong, or things would go exactly as SEELE wanted them to. And she had sorted her options there from best to worst. This was her ace in the hole, something their scenario would _never_ see coming.

Yui Ikari prepared herself, and went out to face death or divinity. Preferably divinity.

* * *

The lights were bright around the test chamber. Gendo sat at his desk and brooded over the top of his steepled fingers, glasses constantly feeding back the readings from the chamber. Down below, the prone half-figure of Lilith lay, its torso facing one side of the room. The torso of the to-be Evangelion Unit 01 lay with its waist connected to the god-monster, facing the other way.

A smile on his face, Shinji Ikari pressed his face against the glass, looking down at the funny shapes down below.

"Destrudo experiment will begin in 5 minutes," came the announcement over loudspeakers.

"Why is there a child in here?" asked Professor Fuyutsuki, waiting with humming nerves.

"That's Commander Ikari's son," Naoko Akagi said.

Fuyutsuki frowned. "Ikari," he said, glaring. "This isn't a daycare centre. This is an important event."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Yui said, her voice coming in over the speakers. She was down in the chamber below, sitting in the pod inserted into Unit 01. "I'm the one who brought Shinji here."

"But Yui, your experiment is running today," he said.

"That's why I brought him," Yui said. "I want to show him how bright the future will be."


	13. Intermission 1

**INTERMISSION 1**

"Dr Yui Ikari died in a tragic industrial accident in Hakone on the 8th of August, 2004, at the age of 27."

"Yui is survived by her husband and young son."

* * *

"Dr Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu tragically ended her own life in Berlin on the 24th of October, 2005, at the age of 31."

"Kyoko is survived by her husband and young daughter."

* * *

"Dr Naoko Akagi tragically ended her own life in Tokyo-3 on the 5th of May, 2010, at the age of 47.

"Naoko is survived by her daughter."

* * *

"The UN's Japanese science division is currently undergoing a review of its human resource policies, after unfortunately high levels of workplace accidents and suicide among female employees over the past decade.

"Preliminary studies indicate that this is likely due to the stress and PTSD caused by Second Impact."

 **END OF ACT 1**


End file.
